by Wood, Vivian
After a moment she shook her head.
“Sorry. You don’t need to know all that,” she said.
“It’s okay,” Harlan said. And it was, really; immediate threats of hunters and werewolves aside, a little part of him was mulling over her other problems, seeking a solution.
He wanted to help her, which was… yeah, totally outside the norm for him.
A crackling electronic noise made him jump. Harlan and Penny looked toward the sound, coming from a walkie-talking sitting on its charging base next to the front door.
“H, we got company,” came a staticky voice. Chase. “They’re tripping sensors on the property line. We got about fifteen minutes before they’re in our hair.”
“Shit. Okay.” Harlan jumped up, grabbing for his jacket as he shoved his feet into his boots. “The hunters are back. They don’t know you’re here, and I want to keep it that way. Hunker down in the bedroom. Lock the door, and don’t come out for anyone except me. Got it?”
Penny’s eyes were wide, but she nodded and stood.
“Go,” Harlan said, shooing her.
Penny scampered into the hallway, looking back at him a couple of times. Only when the bedroom door closed and he heard the lock turn did Harlan lace up his boots.
Rifle and extra cartons of shells in hand, Harlan locked up the cabin and jogged out to one of the makeshift firing turrets the Triad had set up. The lodge sat on high ground, surrounded by lots of low-lying woods. Chase had already found the three strongest defense points when Harlan and Paxton arrived, and eventually they’d set up camouflaged blinds.
Like for deer hunters, except in this scenario, the wolves were both predator and prey. The hunters were coming to attack the Triad, nail their pelts to a wall somewhere, but soon they’d find things turned around on them.
Right on time, as soon as Harlan was crouched and ready in the blind, three guys in full Ghillie suits emerged from the woods. They were covered head to toe in white and green camo resembling snowy leaves, and when they stopped walking they sunk into the background, almost undetectable.
Almost. Thanks to Harlan’s super senses, he could still pick them out. These assholes had probably spent thousands on the suits alone, not to mention all the military-grade weapons and equipment they were undoubtedly carrying.
It turned Harlan’s stomach. Didn’t they realize that the werewolves they were hunting were also human beings a good portion of the time? It was sick. The thought made him even more angry that Chase had ordered the Triad not to kill the hunters if it could be helped.
Apparently killing humans on Chase’s land would only make werewolves look like vicious, untamed murderers… no matter how bad the human hunters might be.
Harlan looked down the scope of his rifle, taking careful aim. He released five quick shots, hitting low hanging tree branches and piles of snow above the hunters’ heads. One dropped right where he stood, hands flying up to protect his head as he dove into a snow bank.
Amateur.
The other two at least had the sense to take cover behind a cluster of trees. One of them gestured to the others, giving Harlan the impression that he was in charge of their little group.
Then again, for all their fancy equipment, these guys weren’t likely to be ex-military. They might have a little paramilitary training, but if they were anything special they’d have caught the Triad unawares in the first place. It would be better for Harlan not to assume that they’d use classic USMC moves.
Just like Syria. Disorganized, disjointed, and even more dangerous. The randomness of it made the enemy deadly.
Focusing on them, Harlan shot around them in a lazy circle, careful not to get too close. Warning them, if they’d only listen. A real soldier would recognize Harlan’s abilities, see that fucking with the Winter Pass wolves was a very bad idea.
Over his shoulder, he heard the softest rustle. He tensed and turned, expecting an animal of some kind, maybe Chase or Pax.
Not the camo-suited goon standing only ten feet away, pointing a sleek black handgun right at Harlan’s chest.
“Slowly,” the man said, cocking the gun. “Put your hands on your head and stand up, shit bird.”
Rage flared bright in Harlan’s chest. His wolf rose, and he let it come, though he didn’t let his wolf pull him into a shift.
Harlan released a truly threatening snarl, his wolf’s voice pouring from his human throat. The hunter stared at Harlan, knowing that Harlan was seconds from shifting and potentially ripping him to shreds. A strong whiff of panic rolled off the guy, and the gun trembled in his hand.
Coward. Wasn’t this the fight the hunter had been looking for?
Harlan sidestepped, drawing the gunman along with him, trying to find a way to weaken him, back him into a tree or make him trip over a rock.
The human surprised him by firing a shot, barely missing Harlan’s right hip. Then another, and another.
If the guy’s hand hadn’t been shaking so hard, Harlan would be in serious trouble. Too quick, the man spread his legs and braced his weapon with his other hand, aiming right at Harlan’s chest.
“Freeze!”
Harlan and the hunter both went still. That voice did something to Harlan’s inside, made him bare his teeth and growl, trying to draw the hunter’s attention again.
Penny stepped out from behind some trees, a shotgun in her hands. She was breathing hard, big puffs of steam rising in the air, her cheeks as pink as could be. She also looked more than a little pissed off, not to mention pretty comfortable with a twelve gauge. Well, well. Wasn’t she full of surprises this morning?
“Drop your gun,” Penny said, cutting to the heart of it. “I am too close to miss, and I have no problem pulling the trigger.”
The hunter sneered at her, but he did lean down and drop his handgun.
“You okay?” Penny asked Harlan.
“Uhh… think so,” Harlan said. He was a little ashamed at getting rescued by her, not to mention overwhelmed by her easy mastery of the situation. A weaker woman would be curled up in the fetal position, scared out of her mind right now. “Keep him in place for me.”
Harlan snatched up his rifle and walkie talkie. He propped the rifle against his shoulder with one arm, turning and finding the other three hunters far too close to the blind for his liking. He fired a few more shots, deliberately hitting one of them in the foot and another in the upper arm.
They turned tail pretty quickly after that, beating feet back the way they’d come in. Harlan whirled back to the final enemy, raising the walkie talkie to his lips.
“Ran three off. Got a live one here,” he reported. There was silence for a long beat.
“Shot four of ‘em, saw them jump in a Humvee and floor it,” came Pax’s voice.
“I got a live one too,” Chase called after a moment. “Tie yours up and leave him in the blind. I’ll come around and collect him. Gonna take ‘em both out as far as I can, let them figure their own ride back.”
“With pleasure.”
Harlan made short work of hog-tying the idiot, stripping him of three more handguns and several fancy pieces of comm equipment in the bargain. Once the hunter’s hands were tied, his face and belly pressed into the snow, Penny leaned the shotgun up against the tree, looking relieved.
“I thought I was going to have to kill him,” she said, worrying her lower lip with her teeth as she watched Harlan tie the guy up.
“Funny, I thought you were going to stay put,” Harlan said without glancing up.
“Not very grateful, are you?” Penny huffed.
Harlan sighed.
“Can we get a little farther from here before we start arguing? I don’t think this asshole needs to hear anything about us or our lives, do you?”
Penny scowled, but didn’t argue as Harlan led her in a wide circle around the main lodge, then toward the cabin.
The whole way to the cabin, Harlan couldn’t stop thinking how impressed he was with Penny. The way she’d wielded that s
hotgun, threatened the man about to fire point-blank at Harlan. That she’d been brave enough to do that, cared enough to protect Harlan, a man she barely knew…
That spoke volumes about her character. About the kind of woman she was, on top of being beautiful and insanely attractive to both Harlan and his wolf.
“Go on in,” Harlan told Penny, needing a moment to gather himself, keep from pouncing on her and finding out what other surprises she had in store for the right man. “I’m going to grab some firewood.”
He’d just managed to wrestle control from his base impulses when he walked back into the cabin, a load of wood in his arms. When he spotted Penny cowering in the corner by the stove, Paxton glowering down at her, looking like he was about to shift and attack, Harlan saw red.
The firewood tumbled to the ground as Harlan hopped over the couch, ready to go for Pax’s throat. Pax’s hand shot out as he turned on Harlan with a menacing growl.
“Get the fuck away from her,” Harlan warned him, trying to circle and get between Penny and Pax.
Pax didn’t miss a beat, his fists coming up, ready to square off.
“What is she doing here?” Pax fired back. “Did we or did we not just talk about this, you fucking idiot?”
“We’re snowed in, if you haven’t noticed.”
Pax bounced on the balls of his feet, spoiling for a fight.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Harlan. I know you. You’re digging your heels in, man. She’s got to go.”
“Guys—” Penny ventured.
“Shut it,” Pax said.
Harlan lunged at him, tackling him to the floor and rolling across the kitchen, away from Penny. His wolf howled with pleasure even as Harlan felt his shoulder start to bleed again from the impact, anything to get Pax away from Penny.
Pax shoved Harlan off and jumped to his feet, backing toward the front door. Harlan was up like a flash, putting himself in front of Penny.
“If you’re going to be stubborn, I’m going to tell her,” Pax said, looking aggravated. “She probably thinks you’re protecting her, but we both know you’re going to fuck her life up, man.”
“Get out,” Harlan ordered.
Pax looked at Penny.
“Did he tell you he’s a fucking werewolf? Tonight’s the full moon, little girl, and you smell real good. If you had half a brain, you’d be long fucking gone from here before sundown. Unless you want to get fucked and turned by a bunch of animals, that is.”
Harlan watched Penny’s face crumple, saw her curl back into the corner, her eyes flashing to Harlan’s face. He couldn’t even try to hide the truth, not when Pax had thrust it out there like that.
“See? That’s how they all react, man,” Pax told Harlan, shaking his head. “Get her the hell out of here, Harlan, or you know what’s going to happen.”
With that, Pax opened the door and backed out of the cabin, leaving Harlan and Penny staring at each other, speechless.
Chapter Five
After a few minutes of trembling and uncontrolled laughter, Penny managed to get most of her hysteria under control. She thought it was pretty reasonable, since it wasn’t often that one was confronted with a real-life werewolf. Let alone someone on which you’d already developed something of a heart-pounding crush.
Even after the initial moment of shock passed, Penny had to laugh. This was exactly the kind of thing that happened to her, after all. One day she absentmindedly wishes for a real man in her life, even if he’s a big sexy werewolf. The next day, of all the wishes she’d made, that was the one that was miraculously granted.
Fangs and all.
Penny sat in Harlan’s armchair, sipping the cup of tea he’d prepared. He stood a few feet away, arms crossed, expression brooding. Waiting for her to go berserk and try to run away, perhaps, or to hurl hateful epithets at him?
“You look pale,” Harlan said, a muscle in his jaw tensing.
“I think that’s warranted,” Penny said tartly. “I’m not going to faint or anything, though. Maybe you should sit down and tell me exactly how this all… come about. I confess, I don’t know that much about werewolves outside of what I hear on the radio.”
Harlan shot her a questioning glance, then slowly moved over to sit down across from her. He dominated the seat with his big frame, elbows on his knees, expression grave.
“What do you want to know?” he asked. The openness and simplicity of his question made Penny’s heart do a funny flip in her chest.
“Well… are you the only one here that’s a…” She paused, then forced herself to say it aloud, “Wolf?”
Harlan’s gaze narrowed, but he didn’t miss a beat.
“No. Paxton and Chase are wolves too.”
Penny pursed her lips and nodded, working through her thoughts to find her next question.
“I heard on the radio that werewolves are made, not born. How did you… how did it happen to you?”
“I’m sure you know that it’s passed by a bite during the full moon,” Harlan said. Penny nodded, and he went on. “Chase was turned first. When we were stationed in Germany, he spent a night camping in the Black Forest alone. A couple of weeks later he freaked out and disappeared from the base where we all lived, and next thing I knew he’d signed his discharge papers. He came back stateside without so much as a word to Pax or me, even though we’ve been tighter than brothers for a decade.”
“So… he must have bitten you guys, then,” Penny said, putting another piece of his story in place. “Did you ask him to do that?”
Harlan gave a bark of laughter.
“Fuck no,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean… Push come to shove, I am glad that we’re in this together, but… this is a curse, Penny. I wouldn’t wish this on my enemy.”
Penny wrinkled her nose and bit her lip, not wanting to cross any lines with her questions.
“What?” Harlan prompted after a minute. “Just ask, Penny.”
“How did Chase end up turning you?”
“Pax and I started to worry when he was silent for a few months after his discharge. We got leave together and showed up here. Chase was a wreck, wouldn’t tell us what was wrong. I guess he was afraid we wouldn’t believe him, or maybe that we’d kill him, try to put him out of his misery. Hell, I think he might have asked us to do just that, if the full moon hadn’t been a couple days later. He thought he could control his wolf, but…”
Harlan shrugged, and Penny felt bad for him. Getting bitten and turned into a werewolf by your best friend was not an enviable fate, but…
“It can’t be that bad, right?” she blurted out. “Being a wolf, I mean. It sounds kind of cool.”
“I’m barely aware of things when I shift. I’m definitely not in control of anything.” Harlan rubbed a big hand over the back of his neck, looking uncertain for the first moment since Penny’d met him. “I don’t want to turn anyone else. I had to give up living in the city. I can’t be around anyone but Pax and Chase. I retired from the Marines, took up a job in cyber security. The curse of being a wolf is being alone, I guess.”
Penny sucked in a breath and blew it out, surprised at his eloquence. She’d felt the same way many times in her life, that she was utterly alone, that she’d never be able to find someone who accepted her for herself. Seeing a gorgeous, smart guy like Harlan struggle with the same thing only drew her to him more, despite the fact that they were having a serious conversation about his turning into a wolf and howling at the moon several days a month.
Life was really, really bizarre sometimes.
“What are you thinking?” Harlan asked, cocking his head. “More importantly, why haven’t you turned and run for the hills yet?”
Penny’s lips lifted, his joke breaking up some of her sad thoughts.
“We’re snowbound, remember?” she said, giving Harlan a soft smile.
He laughed again, short and hard like he’d forgotten how. This time, though, his laugh was genuine, lacking the bitterness she’d heard before.<
br />
“Speaking of that… I need to get the Triad together, get us moving. We’re running out of daylight, and I want to get as far away from you as I can before the moon comes up.”
“The Triad?” Penny asked, arching a brow. “You guys have a nickname for yourselves?”
Harlan shrugged, and it was Penny’s turn to laugh.
“Okay, okay,” she said, waving away the thought. “What do I need to prepare for tonight?”
The humor drained from Harlan’s face, which made Penny want to eat her words. He was even more handsome when he laughed, and she wanted to see more of it. Too late, though. Harlan was all business now.
He jumped up and went to his bedroom, then returned with a set of keys and a large dark green metal case. He handed Penny the keys, instructing her on their use to open the main lodge, and then opened the case for her inspection. Standing at her side, he watched her closely as she examined the contents.
Two sleek black handguns, accompanied by what could only be row after row of gleaming sterling silver bullets.
“Harlan, no,” Penny said, turning to him a horrified glance.
“Penny, yes,” he said, serious as death. “You are going to take these up to the main house, lock yourself in, and shoot anything that moves. Human or otherwise.”
“I am not going to shoot you guys,” Penny insisted, her stomach churning at the thought.
“You haven’t seen a werewolf yet,” Harlan said, that dark humor surfacing again. “When you see a wolf twice your size, I promise you’ll think differently.”
“Harlan—” Penny started to protest. Harlan shocked her by reaching out and snagging her by the waist. Dragging her flush against the length of his body, he glowered down at her, his gaze hard as steel.
Harlan’s lips caught hers in a brief, searing kiss, leaving Penny with flushed cheeks and lips parted in surprise. Their bodies pressed intimately, burning Penny up from the inside, making her skin crawl with the desire to wrap her arms around Harlan and drag him back down for another kiss.