“No, Gwen,” Jonas said. “There’s no moon to shift them. Maybe these guys will be on their way.”
The odor of the Weres was like catnip to Gwen, only in a really bad way. It had been a wily pack of half-crazed werewolves that had attacked her and her friends in that Miami park. Here, now, Gwen recognized the foul odor of an oncoming threat. Her muzzle had drawn back, exposing a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth. The feral sounds she made got louder.
He had to get Gwen out of here and safely back to the cabin. He had to hope that the guys in the trees were just passing through and wouldn’t pick up Gwen’s scent in return.
Whispering for Gwen to follow him home, Jonas’s stomach clenched when she didn’t obey. Her blood was up. The pure white fur on her back was raised. She had gone too far into her wolf to listen to anything he had to say. The anguish she had recently suffered had not been forgotten.
Gwen wanted to savage all other Weres that came her way, whether they turned out to be friendly or not. And she was going to do so here if he couldn’t find a way to stop her.
Before he could make a move, Gwen had taken off, leaving him standing with his hands outstretched. The harrowing howl she issued echoed in the night with a refrain that broke his heart.
Unfortunately, that howl would also have alerted both of these new guys to her presence, while also possibly inviting a wolf hunter to the party.
He had been a fool for letting Gwen out, but couldn’t have helped it. How could anyone have kept someone they loved trapped in a makeshift prison, even if it was for their own good?
In honor of the degree of danger they faced, Jonas’s claws extended. He swiped at his jeans as he sprinted after his sister, and heard the denim rip.
It was a neat trick to be able to call his wolf to the surface without a full moon present. Not many others knew about his ability to shift one more time after a full moon phase had come and gone. His family had always been unusual and this was one more secret in a world already full of them. This particular secret came in handy at times.
Maintaining a tight hold on himself was rough going. However, if the newcomers didn’t notice Gwen, they sure as hell didn’t need the shock of seeing her big brother partially transformed.
An extra kick of power surged through Jonas to lighten the load of running on purely human legs. His sense of smell tripled as he moved, as if his claws were sending him in the right direction—the path Gwen had taken.
“Stop, Gwen,” he sent to her over and over, ignoring the fear that was growing inside him. “Please stop.”
Rounding piles of rock as if they were part of a slalom course, Jonas crashed through the low-lying branches of the forest with his head pounding and his lungs ready to burst.
“Gwen!”
And then he heard Gwen bark a warning, and the repeat of a rifle shot.
“God. No.”
Beneath the helplessness of that internal shout, Jonas perceived another sound and sprinted toward it, slowing only when he heard a voice he recognized call out.
“What’s up, boys? Are you lost?” a female voice demanded in the manner of a professional taunt.
Tess was here and had caught up with those Weres first.
Chapter 15
One of the two hiding among the rocks spoke back.
“Why would we need to hide from a tasty morsel like you?”
“Maybe not quite so tasty,” Tess said. “Come out. Show yourself.”
“With pleasure,” the Were said.
A tall humanlike form climbed down from the rocks. This guy was broad in the shoulders, with uncommonly long legs and arms. His thin face was bearded with red stubble and his attitude was familiar to her.
This was a rogue who believed his strength and cunning could get him out of any jam he was confronted with. Of more concern to Tess was the rifle he carried. She had heard the shot.
His partner appeared—another male, smaller, bulkier, younger by some years and dressed in fatigues. Both sets of dark eyes flashed with animosity for anyone who dared to get in their way. What they were doing here was the question in need of an answer.
“This isn’t the right area for hunting,” Tess said, watching for and anticipating a move in her direction.
“Isn’t that a bow in your hand?” the big guy returned with a sarcastic tone.
“I own the ground you’re standing on, which pretty much means that I can do as I please. And I don’t recall inviting guests.”
“Really? Your dirt? I heard a rumor that a wolf slayer lives here.”
“Slayer?” Tess repeated.
“I’m told she wears the pelts of the wolves she has killed and carries their teeth on a string.”
This was always the way with rumors, Tess supposed. Facts tended to be blown way out of proportion.
“And if she does live here?” Tess asked.
“Then we might be in the market for some wolf slayer skin,” the Were replied. “That would be sort of fitting, wouldn’t it? A pelt for a pelt, like that old thing of an eye for an eye. We’d be heroes.”
Tess nodded. “You came here for that reason?”
“Why else would we come to a godforsaken place like this? Then again, I wouldn’t mind a little detour of the pleasurable kind if you’re not the person we seek.”
His eyes were on her, but they were human eyes. Tess had a bad feeling about taking down a rogue who looked like everyone else, and yet she saw no problem with defending herself.
The tension was palpable. The air contained a dark, angry vibe. Tess smelled the rabbit they’d killed with that rifle. It wouldn’t be long before they were on her, even if they didn’t put two and two together about the woman in front of them being the hunter they were after. It was entirely possible these guys didn’t know the difference between a wolf hunter and a hole in the ground.
Diluted werewolf blood often left the humans it had infected angry and aggressive. If the blood of a werewolf infected a bad guy, chances were that person would be an even worse version than the original, with five times the strength.
“That wouldn’t be you, would it? Does the term wolf slayer fit?” the visitor across from Tess asked.
“I don’t care much for fur or necklaces,” she replied. “But yes, if it’s a wolf hunter you’re after, I’m afraid that would be me.”
The tall Were glanced at his friend, then turned back to her, licking his lips. Tess slowly raised her bow. A silver-tipped arrow was ready. All she had to do was aim.
“You’re so small,” the tall Were observed. Disappointment shone in his eyes about the possibility of this taking less time than he had imagined it would.
“Size isn’t everything. But then, I’m sure you’ve heard that before,” Tess returned drily.
Angered by her taunt, the tall Were took a step forward. He checked out the bow she was raising and smiled. His partner did a shuffling sidestep that was meant to be a distraction. However, it was obvious that neither of these guys had taken those slayer rumors to heart.
As the rifle lifted to the larger Were’s hip and a black metal blade appeared in the other Were’s hand, Tess was about to take aim when another sound echoed through the night to steal the attention of both of her wolfish opponents.
It was a howl. A haunting, harrowing howl, the likes of which Tess had never heard before.
From the periphery came a white streak of movement that glowed like a specter in the moonlight raining down through overhead branches. The white wolf was here. Jonas’s pet.
Before Tess could loose her arrow, the white wolf lunged for the larger of the two Weres. The sheer force of its attack toppled him to the ground.
Sharp teeth nipped at the downed Were’s face without actually touching skin. The wolf’s growls were truly disturbing and rumbled continuously, warning the rogue Were to stay down. Although the white
wolf was outweighed by over a hundred pounds, the rogue’s face registered fear. Everyone here knew that wolf meant business.
In an attempt to defend himself, the Were’s hands circled the white wolf’s neck—a move the wolf shook off with its snowy muzzle close to the Were’s face. One good bite and it would be all over for one of the rogues that had come looking for Tess tonight, hoping to make a name for himself.
Heroes, the Were currently held down by a mouthful of snapping teeth had said.
Seeing his partner in a vulnerable position and seemingly horrified by the sight of the white phantom doing damage to their plans, the Were to Tess’s right jumped back. With the black blade temporarily removed from being an immediate threat, Tess turned to face him.
Her heart was racing. She had to determine which beast was the bigger problem here. The white wolf was monstrously strong, but was only an animal. Werwolves could at least understand the spoken word.
“It’s a shame you came here tonight,” Tess said.
In the slight lull between her thoughts, the second rogue attacked, coming at her like a madman with his face in a sneer. What Tess lacked in sheer strength, she made up for in speed, knowledge of the Were breed and courage.
Targeting the arm that wielded the black blade, she let an arrow fly. As the arrow found its target, the Were holding the blade shrieked in pain and anger. Silver was a hefty detriment to most Weres whether they were wolfed up or not, despite what the Lycan had said, and this guy had been stung with a healthy dose.
The Were snarled and scratched at the arrow in his arm, hoping to dislodge it. Tess shot forward. Forgetting about the white wolf for the few seconds it took for her to raise a second arrow, she called out another warning. “Even bad plans sometimes go astray.”
The guy she faced wasn’t about to allow her an even bigger edge. He came at her with his face contorted and Tess’s arrow sticking out from his upper arm. The silver the arrow had been dipped in was already showing its effect by slowing the rogue’s reflexes down to human levels.
He used his other arm to swing at her and bared his human teeth as if he had forgotten about looking like a human tonight. With his injured arm covered by a blue long-sleeved T-shirt, Tess couldn’t witness the spread of the silver that would have looked like a network of spiderwebs on his flesh by now. When it reached his heart, he’d go down.
This guy grunted each time he moved, but kept at it. Tess ducked, rounded and rallied strongly with a boot to his thigh that caused him to utter a curse.
In the forefront of Tess’s mind was the question of what she could do with these guys if the white wolf didn’t eat them before she could decide what to do in this situation. It wasn’t like she could toss these two in jail.
Her attacker’s face had taken on a sickly gleam. Though he was wounded, he was determined not to be bested by the hunter he had come here to kill.
Anger filled Tess, chasing everything away but the need to defend herself. This guy was a lot stronger than he looked and used what was left of his strength aggressively by turning, lunging, ready to do anything to rectify the way this was going down.
Tess fought him off, her concern growing about what was happening behind her. She heard a shout and thought she might have imaged it until she recognized the voice.
Jonas was here.
His familiar scent filled her lungs with each breath of air. Her heart continued to thunder. She should have known Jonas might have been in the area if the white wolf was. If two rogue Weres weren’t enough, there were now three werewolves in their human guises and a real, white-pelted wolf invading her space.
Would Jonas be on her side, or defend those of his kind?
How about the white wolf with the big teeth? Would that animal come for her next?
The answers to those questions didn’t matter at the moment, because she had to deal. She had to see this through.
I have this, Tess chanted inwardly, fully intending to back that promise up somehow.
* * *
The scene was something Jonas feared, and he didn’t know where to go first.
Gwen had a guy on the ground. Luckily for the idiot lying on his back, his sister was showing some restraint. The lucky bastard still had a face, as well as all four limbs. He wasn’t putting up much of a struggle since Gwen’s teeth were inches from his nose. But it was just a matter of time until Gwen’s restraint wore off. She was toying with her prey before taking that bite. She might have been enjoying it.
He raced toward Tess, who was grappling with another rogue that she had wounded. Tess hadn’t shot that arrow to kill, Jonas saw. She had winged the rogue in order to level the playing field.
Tess was outfitted in her leather hunter garb and in black from head to boot, and she looked every bit the part of what she was.
These guys might have been the monsters she had been trained to take on, and yet they had human eyes tonight. Tess’s job was to protect humans from this very thing, but in the Were world, the line separating human from wolf was fuzzy. Without a full moon to strip the word human from them, Tess was clearly torn.
On the other hand, Jonas knew what had to be done and who had to do it. There was no way to redeem a bad Were and these two badasses had recently been indoctrinated into the species. They smelled rank and like the blood of the animals they had recently eaten.
Jonas slid his hands between Tess and the rogue and followed that move with his body. Having observed Tess in action and after having been up close and personal with her in a situation similar to this one, he knew she carried a small length of rope on her belt that he could use to hogtie this guy. With one down, he’d then pull Gwen off the other bastard.
Tess tried to shove him aside until her eyes met his. Seeing her determination waver, Jonas spoke to her quietly.
“This is what I do for a living, Tess, and these guys have wolf blood in their veins. Let me take it from here.”
She didn’t immediately respond. Like Gwen, her blood was up. Silver had bolstered her strength and her courage to do her duty here, and yet her reluctance to truly harm these guys wouldn’t add anything to her reputation.
“Let me deal with them,” he repeated, taking the arrow protruding from the Were’s arm in his fingers and yanking it out, while blocking the Were and Tess from going at each other.
“Out of my way,” Tess shouted, trying to shove him aside. She was abnormally strong now, but even with her silver infusion, his Lycan talents would have included besting this hunter in more ways than one.
The rogue wasn’t sure what to think about this. He’d be smelling wolf on this new opponent and trying to decide who was in charge. Jonas backed him into the rock and spoke directly to Tess. “This guy is mine.”
Jonas pushed that idea with the practiced power of persuasion most Lycans with old blood in their veins knew how to use.
When Tess’s eyes softened slightly, Jonas added the magic word “Please” silently.
That did the trick. Tess stepped aside to allow him some space. And yet before Jonas could take full charge of the situation, he heard a bloodcurdling scream and knew it had come from the rogue that Gwen had pinned to the ground.
He whirled with a tight hold on the werewolf he’d been confronting. Tess spun with him. While the sight he witnessed made his stomach turn over, Jonas didn’t dare close his eyes to block it out.
Gwendolyn Dale had just done a very bad thing.
Chapter 16
Tess’s hands froze on her bow. Uncertainty about how to react to the sight in front of her took over her thought process.
The white wolf was standing over the body of the big rogue the wolf had been fighting with, and the snowy white fur was speckled with blood. When the animal glanced up from the devastation beneath it, its muzzle was bright, pure red.
The scene was surreal, as if somehow removed from time.
>
“No,” Tess heard Jonas whisper, and the word echoed inside her head.
The white wolf stared back without moving. Its light eyes were focused on the rogue that Jonas had a hold of as if it would go for that guy next.
“Rope,” Jonas said, holding tightly to the wounded Were by his side that, though alive, didn’t look so good. Her silver-tipped arrow was doing irreparable damage to this poor bastard’s body, and she felt some regret.
Jonas said, “On your belt, Tess. Pass me the rope.”
Tess wasn’t sure she should lower the bow after what she was witnessing. That white wolf had chewed on the downed rogue, taking his face right off. She couldn’t fathom why the vicious animal hadn’t gone after her at her cabin the day before.
“Rope,” Jonas repeated, and this time Tess got the picture. Without dropping the bow altogether, she tossed a length of rope to Jonas.
The whole situation was weird. Jonas was helping her. He was relieving her of her duties, when she wasn’t in need of a partner and hadn’t asked for one.
“Relatives of yours?” she snapped, though her heart wasn’t in the jibe. Her pulse was pounding with adrenaline. Spikes of anxiousness chilled the skin beneath her ears.
The look Jonas gave her was one of understanding, which riled her all the more and dredged up feelings for him that she had taken most of the evening to unsuccessfully avoid.
“Bad guys,” he finally said, wrapping the wrists of the Were that was showing signs of further weakness.
“You think?” Tess muttered.
“My province, not yours,” he continued, glancing at her and waiting until her eyes again met his.
Tess looked away quickly.
There was just something about those eyes...
His blue eyes looked golden in the shadows. The fire in them made her fingers curl. Jonas’s body was virile and sexy. His commanding presence made her press her leather-clad thighs together.
She got a short reprieve from the look on his face when Jonas turned back to the blood-drenched white wolf to soberly assess the damage the wolf had done to the rogue.
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