Jace (River Pack Wolves 2) (Paranormal Romance)

by Alisa Woods

  Daniel’s gun wavered. “Piper, are you responsible for this?”

  Piper stood taller. “Yes.” And he better not try to undo this escape, or she would find a way to tear out her brother’s throat with her own fangs.

  Jace reached for her hand. “She’s responsible for this, all right. If it weren’t for her, there would be a lot more people dead, including your father, who she convinced me not to kill just a minute ago. And probably your brother, Noah, as well, who has been trapped here, tormented by your father and Agent Smith, that asshole on the ground with the boots on his back.” Jace pulled in a ragged breath, and Piper’s heart clenched—she needed to get a healer for him, stat. But they would only be able to do that if Daniel and his MPs were on their side.

  “Don’t listen to them,” the Colonel rasped out, his hand still on his throat, playing up his non-injury. “Daniel, son, you know she’s never been anything but trouble. For herself and for everyone else.”

  Daniel scowled. “Doesn’t look that way to me, Dad.” He turned to Piper. “I went back to the safehouse. This whole thing wasn’t sitting right with me. I don’t always like the things you do, Piper. I think you’re reckless, arrogant, and a danger to others. But…” His gaze flicked to Noah standing next to her. “But the one thing you’ve always cared about in this world was him. When Mrs. River told me you’d found Noah and had convinced the entire pack to go after him… I figured you could probably use a little help.”

  Piper’s shoulders dropped, and she huffed out a sigh of relief. Then a scuffle behind her drew her attention. Her father had quickly disarmed Owen, and now they had reversed positions, with the Colonel holding the gun to Owen’s head. In his weakened state, Owen could hardly fight back.

  Piper gritted her teeth.

  “I’m not going down for this, Daniel,” the Colonel growled. Then he raised his voice. “Tell your men to stand down.”

  Daniel gave him a look of disgust, and he swung his weapon to point at the Colonel’s head. “Remember all those times you made me stay on the target range until I finally hit dead-center? Put down the weapon, sir, or you’ll find out exactly how good a shot I am.”

  The Colonel’s mouth momentarily fell open, but he didn’t move. “I’m not bluffing, son. And you’ll pay for this, once all of this is said and done.”

  “This is your only warning.” Daniel’s steely-eyed gaze convinced Piper well enough—he was actually going to shoot their father if he didn’t stand down.

  Piper’s eyebrows hiked up, and it seemed like everyone was holding their breath. The Colonel’s eyes slowly went wide as he seemed to realize the same thing. He released Owen all of a sudden and threw his hands in the air. Two of Daniel’s MPs rushed forward and disarmed her father, shoving him to the ground and cuffing his hands behind his back.

  Piper could hardly believe it.

  Daniel was putting his own father under arrest.

  The prisoners were free.

  She’d found Noah.

  And even Jace’s elusive Agent Smith had been caught.

  Then Jace let out a soft groan. His hold on the gurney slackened, and he slumped to the floor, smacking on the concrete.

  Piper gasped and dropped down next to him. “We need a healer!” she shouted, tears reaching up to choke her again.

  One of the prisoners rushed forward. It was a woman, and her eyes were sunken and shadowed like Owen’s—she must’ve been imprisoned for a long time.

  “Get him up on the gurney,” she quickly instructed the others standing around them. A rush of hands gripped Jace’s body and heaved him up onto the silver table. Noah and Daniel were among them, along with Jace’s brothers, Jaxson and Jared. They stepped back but stayed nearby, watching the woman work. Another prisoner scavenged a needle and thread and medical kit from the nearby cabinets and brought them to her. Jace’s eyes were squeezed shut, and his skin was too pale. He looked like he had passed out, but then he moaned when the woman started digging into his wounds.

  An arm slipped around Piper, and she realized she was shaking.

  She looked up—it was Noah.

  “He’s strong,” her brother said. “And not just his wolf, I have a feeling. I don’t know the man at all, but if he’s won your heart, he has to be something special.”

  She was choked up and could hardly force the words out. “He is.”

  “Then I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”

  Piper prayed her brother was right as she watched the woman pull bullet after bullet from Jace’s quivering body and stitch up the battered flesh left behind.

  Jace felt like he’d been attacked by a porcupine with poisoned quills.

  At least, that was the vague thought he had as he worked his way up from the depths of sleep. He didn’t know who sewed him up, but he wouldn’t be alive without them. He’d stayed awake for most of the painful extraction of bullets from his body. He lost count after fourteen, and that didn’t even include the darts. Although most of those hadn’t made their way into his system. He was convinced the only reason he’d been able to stay conscious as long as he had was that the darts had anesthetized some of the pain—that and massive doses of adrenaline. But the surgery had been too much, and he went down hard, tumbling into a blissful pain-free blackness.

  He remembered praying he’d actually wake up again.

  Now that he was rousing out of that deep sleep, he realized he must’ve been transported back to the safehouse. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but the soft blanket over him, the deep pillow under his head, and the wafting smell of dinner told him he’d made it home alive.

  Jace stretched and groaned and finally opened his eyes. The room was very dimly lit by light sneaking under the doorway and through his window. It was nighttime, he was in his bedroom, and the moon glistened everything with a silver sheen. He rolled toward it, letting out a groan because the bullet wounds were still fresh, only to find Piper sitting next to his bed.

  A wide grin was plastered on her face.

  “Oh, um…” he mumbled. “You’re here.” Very articulate, Jace. He swallowed and tried to come up with something coherent to say, but his throat was extremely dry.

  “Hello, big sexy thing,” Piper said with a smirk. She handed him a glass of water that she snatched up from the floor next to his bed. “I’m glad you decided to wake up on my watch. I’d hate for one of your brothers to have the pleasure of that very special greeting.”

  He propped himself up on his elbow and grimaced through the pain. He took a sip of water before trying to speak again. “Thanks for saving my life.” That seemed a little better, and a hell of a lot closer to how he truly felt.

  “I’m afraid that honor belongs to that healer girl, Macy.” She cocked her head. “I hope that’s not a requirement for sticking around.”

  He smiled. He could hardly believe it—they had found her brother, rescued the others, and he’d lived through the whole thing—best of all, the bad guys had been caught. At least, he hoped so. He had pretty much passed out during the critical part. And his wolf… it still boggled his mind that he’d been wrong all along about that. That Colonel Wilding had let him take the fall for that village. That he wasn’t a murderer… and his wolf was something that enjoyed the hell out of Piper scratching him behind the ears. The truly best part was her, sitting in a chair at his bedside and looking after him. He didn’t know if he could convince her to stay, not really—she had a job that took her all over the world. And she was damn good at it.

  But she couldn’t have any doubts as to how he felt about her now.

  He dipped his head to peer at her. “I’ve been trying to get you to stick around since you snuck into my house in the middle of the night.” He smirked. “In fact, maybe we could go back to the kitchen and start up where we left off.”

  She gave him a sexy grin and leaned closer. Her simple V-neck was cut low enough to remind him that he hadn’t paid anywhere near enough attention to her gorgeous breasts the last time they had made love�
��which had also been their first time. That was something he planned to remedy one way or the other. Soon.

  “I don’t know, soldier. You sure you’re up for those kinds of gymnastics? With the amount of ammo Macy pulled out of your body, you could start your own Army surplus shop.”

  He handed the glass of water back to her, but as soon as she took it, he snagged her hand and pulled her closer. “How about you come over here, and we find out?”

  She set the glass down and crawled into bed with him. His body still ached, but the delicious feel of her sliding into his lap made him forget all about it. Then she kissed him, and his hands got full really fast, holding her back with one to pull her closer and palming her breast with the other.

  When she pulled back from the kiss, he said, “Now this is the way to wake up.” He kneaded the hot, heavy globe of breast again and went for another kiss, but she stopped him with two fingers to his lips and a serious expression.

  He stilled his hands and brought them back to her hips. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head but didn’t answer… just looked at his chest, which was apparently left bare after the surgery. It was crisscrossed with fresh scars, shining sliver-pink in the moonlight. She traced one with her fingertip, and all the aches and pains faded in a surge of lust that had his cock rising to the occasion.

  But she hadn’t answered his question. He gently lifted her hand from his chest, kissed her fingertips one at a time, then curled her hand to rest on him again. “You’re not saying what’s on your mind, Piper Wilding. And that’s just peculiar.”

  She smiled. “You know me so well, do you? Now that we’ve been acquainted for…” She pretended to think. “About six minutes.”

  “Best six minutes of my life.” He said it with utter sincerity. She’d come in like a tornado and turned his life upside down… and fixed everything that was wrong with it. She gave him back a hope that hadn’t simply died—it had been obliterated. He didn’t have words for the magnitude of the change she’d wrought in his life in just a few short days.

  “The Colonel is officially under arrest,” Piper said, totally switching subjects and dodging whatever she had been hiding before. “Daniel’s bringing him up on charges.”

  “Fair enough. What’s that got to do with why you’re sitting in my lap but not letting me kiss you?” He wasn’t going to let her off that easy.

  “Just thought you might want to know.” She ducked her head and went back to touching his scars. A frown etched on her face, which was ethereal in the moonlight, all shadows and sharp cheekbones and dark-as-midnight hair spilling over her shoulders. God, she was beautiful.

  He brushed her hair back from where it had fallen across her face. The direct approach wasn’t working, so he’d have to come at this sideways. “I’m glad to hear your brother is on Team Good Guys again.”

  She nodded. “He really is a straight arrow, but there’s hope for him yet.” Her smile was pained, and it was really starting to tear at him. “But the Colonel’s slipperier than an eel. He’s already talking plea bargain. And I wouldn’t be surprised if someone up the chain of command gives it to him, just to keep his mouth shut.”

  Jace grimaced. That was all too likely. “No matter what, I’m not going to let him near you again.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not worried about that. I just want him to pay for what he’s done. Unlike Agent Smith.”

  “Wait… what? What happened to Agent Smith?”

  “Daniel says someone sprung him after about three hours. I think he must have some kind of connection to pretty high-level brass, maybe even Senator Krepky. As far as I know, he’s still planning to propose that law about shifters—you know, the one where we all have to register? I’m sure the good Senator would be willing to pull some strings to keep Agent Smith out of the limelight and pin all of this on my father. Not that he’s innocent, but one rogue Colonel is a whole different thing than the Feds being directly involved. He’ll want to keep all that as quiet as possible when he goes for the new legislation.”

  “Well, that’s easy, then,” Jace said with a tight smile. “We don’t keep quiet.”

  Piper nodded. “Olivia’s already talking about taking the entire story to some guy in the press she knows. I guess she used to be a reporter or something?”

  “Yeah. And that sounds like a reasonable approach.” He ran his fingertips across her pale cheeks—she allowed it, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. She was still hiding something. He pressed on. “So, Olivia will take it to the press. Daniel will try to get your father to pay for what he’s done. And Agent Smith might manage to slither under a rock. What’s left?”

  She took a deep breath, still avoiding his gaze. “Noah’s going back overseas.”

  “I can imagine he’d like to get far away from here.” Jace ducked his head and peered into her dark eyes, which were fixed on his chest. Was that it? Was she planning to go back to work overseas as well? Was that what she was hesitating to tell him?

  The distant howl of his wolf welled up from deep inside him. It surged closer to the surface, but Jace was no longer afraid his beast would burst out at any moment. He and his wolf had just been reacquainted, and it felt good to be able to listen to what his wolf was telling him again. And right now, his wolf was insisting that Jace not let his mate go. Only Piper wasn’t his mate—and she’d already made it very clear she never wanted one. Hot sex? Yes. Fall in love? Maybe. But a magical bond that forever tied her to him? No. And Jace could understand why—her father had abused everyone he loved, including his mate… who eventually killed herself to escape it. If all that had happened to him, Jace wasn’t sure he would ever take the chance, either.

  Piper was keeping silent, obviously struggling for words. He gave her time, not pushing.

  Eventually, she said, “Daniel’s going to stay here in Seattle at the Joint Base. Partly, I think, to make sure my father pays for what he did. Partly because Daniel’s finally out from under his shadow—now he can have a career of his own. Taking down his own father and this horrible shifter experimentation program might even be what launches it.”

  “Good for Daniel.” Jace waited, but it was clear he was going to have to force this out of her. “What about you?”

  “What do you mean?” But he could tell by the way she was avoiding looking at him that she knew exactly what he meant.

  Jace slid his hands up from her waist, along the soft length of her arms, and up to hold her cheeks gently by his fingertips. He tilted her face and brought her eyes up to meet his.

  “I know you don’t want to mate,” he said softly. “And I get why. Your father has ruined so many lives, I’m sure you can’t imagine mating as anything other than being horrifically trapped.”

  Her eyes were wide, and her lip trembled a little. It reminded him of when they made love, and how open and vulnerable she had been to him. His wolf responded to that sweetness and surged inside him, wanting to protect her from anything and everything that might hurt her. Including mating with him, if that was how it had to be.

  “Having a mate…” He swallowed thickly, the words getting caught in his throat. “Well, it’s not something I thought I would be able to have. But thanks to you, my wolf and I have a new understanding—one that doesn’t involve him rampaging at night, out of control. And one where I listen to him, keep him close. As it should be. And right now, he’s telling me to sink my fangs into you and claim you for my own.”

  Her lips parted, and he could feel her chest heaving. He pushed one hand back through her hair and pulled her in for a quick kiss, soft and light and full of the tenderness he held in his heart for her.

  Then he pulled back and continued, “It wasn’t possible before, but now, I think I could—and I have you to thank for that. You’ve settled my wolf in a way he never was, even before what happened in Afghanistan. I have a faith in him that I didn’t have before, now that I know the truth about what he did. What we did, together. But that doesn’t change h
ow you feel about mating—I understand that.”

  She shook her head in small rapid movements. “You should have a mate. It’s not right for you to finally know the truth and not be able to reclaim everything an alpha like you should have.”

  He smiled. “I won’t lie. Having a mate would be… incredible. Everything I’ve ever wanted. But it doesn’t matter… all I want is you, Piper. You said before that you would stay—did you mean it?”

  She visibly swallowed, and he didn’t want to push her, but he was dying to know—was this just a three-day torrid affair like many she must have had before? He didn’t think so, but he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t just walk away, now that her brother had been found. He needed to hear it straight from her lips, whatever the answer was going to be.

  “Well, Seattle is a pretty city,” she said, her voice trembling, “and there’s plenty of counterintelligence work to do here—not least, I’d like to figure out what Krepky is really up to.” She was changing the subject again.

  And he wasn’t going to let that happen. “I thought you liked traveling the world.”

  “I think, maybe, I’ve had enough of the world for a while.” She touched him again, tracing her fingers from one scar to the next. She seemed to be searching for words, so he waited. “There’s only one person my wolf has ever cried for,” she whispered. “Only one she was ever willing to do anything for… including submit.” She dragged her dark eyes up to meet his.

  His heart swelled. “You would?” He held perfect still, holding his breath, unsure he had even heard her right.

  “Only for you.” She bit her lip.

  The joy welling up inside him was almost too much to contain. He let his hands slide to her shoulders and pulled her in for another kiss.