by Terry Spear
Hell, she didn't have a choice if she was to solicit help for Cassie. She took a deep breath and shifted.
The man stared at her, stupefied at first, and then finally he said, "You're one of us. I'm Carver."
She kept her arms wrapped around her and shivered. "I'm Aimee Roux."
"Cassie's sister!" Carver hurried forth and before she could react, he pulled her into his heated embrace, warming her chilled skin.
"I'm Cassie's cousin. Her sister died many years ago. The... the men from the zoo took Cassie hostage. And one... of your men, too."
"Leidolf?"
"Whoever was with Cassie."
"Leidolf. Our pack leader. Hell. Will you return with me?"
"One of your men planned to kill me," she said. Carver squeezed tighter, and she sure could get awfully used to his heated embrace. "Irving. Tynan was with him," she explained further. "Can you protect me? Keep me safe from them?"
He knew the bastards were up to something, but he'd never suspected anything like this. "Hell, yeah. Shift, and we'll return to the rest of the pack. Looks like we're bound for a trip to the zoo. Not our favorite place."
Aimee shifted from a silky-skinned beauty to an equally majestic red-furred beauty.
Then he shifted. She darted back into the woods toward the river. He took after her, and when they reached the trees near the river, the men all drew close to the shore, expectant. Elgin wore a worried frown, and so did Fergus. But Aimee held back at the tree line. Carver licked her face and nuzzled her cheek, encouraging her to come. He would protect her at all costs.
Then he trotted toward the river, hoping to hell she would follow his lead. He didn't look back. His pack members all watched her. Then he heard her footfalls on the slippery rocks, and she bumped his left flank, assuring him she was with him on this, that she trusted him to keep her safe. He wouldn't let her down.
* * *
"Did you hear that?" Sarah whispered, as she and Alice froze in amongst the hemlocks.
Alice breathed deeply, trying to smell who was out here. "Tynan," she responded, her voice hushed.
Their father had warned them that he and Irving were up to no good. But what if he could help them get Leidolf out of the zoo? If she and her sister and Evan botched this, they could be in real trouble. With everyone. But if an adult like Tynan was with them, he would be at fault, being the eldest.
Still, Alice was hesitant to call out to him, a sixth sense warning her he was not to be trusted.
Then everything was decided. She smelled a whiff of Irving, the leader of the two men. Tromping at a run in the brush, the two men headed straight for her and Sarah.
Chapter 24
Trying not to rush Cassie on the concrete as they crawled out of the wolves' tunnel, Leidolf led the way on his hands and knees and prayed they wouldn't get caught.
She grabbed his foot and wiggled it. "Hurry, Leidolf. I want out of this place." Her voice wasn't panicky or scared; she spoke in a teasing way as if trying to reduce the tension between them.
Loving the way she dealt with their dilemma, he chuckled. "This concrete is rough on my knees. You must have more padding."
She snorted. "I thought you were tougher than that. I'll have to remember you have delicate knees."
"You can kiss them when we're out of here."
"Hmm, and lots more than that. If we make it, someday we ought to revisit that lake I found you swimming in."
"Ready to take me up on my offer?" He hesitated and glanced back to see her expression.
"Maybe. I heard the soil made for a good comfy bed." She smiled at him as he raised a brow at her.
"Or ferns to lie down in, Douglas firs serving as our walls and canopy. Sounds good to me."
"And the Forest Club. I want to go back and dance. But this time I want to order the plate of roast tenderloin."
"Didn't get enough the last time?"
"You were such a gentleman. Thanks for sharing with me."
He paused. "I had to. If you licked your lips one more time while salivating over my roast, I would have had to join you on your side of the table and kiss you, right then and there. I didn't think you were quite ready for that. So I shared my roast with you instead."
She chuckled softly. He smiled again.
He reached the end of the tunnel and moved over so Cassie could kneel beside him. "We'll climb out there," he said, pointing to the fence on the north side of the wolves' exhibit. "Looks like one or two more fences beyond that. Once we've crossed all the fences, we'll shape-shift back into our wolf forms, and traverse Forest Park, which is closed now. We can reach Carver's house in a short while."
He took Cassie's face and kissed her mouth long and hard. "We can't get caught, Cassie. No matter what, we can't get caught."
She sighed. "I don't plan on it. All right. Let's do it." Cassie climbed out of the tunnel first and sprinted next to a building and through a group of trees, and then dove at the fence.
Intent on protecting her, Leidolf kept up with her, watching for any signs of trouble, sampling the air for human smells, listening for anyone's approach. At this time of night, Leidolf figured no one would be roaming around the grounds, unless someone thought the red wolves were in danger of being freed again. He smiled wryly.
When he joined Cassie in attempting to climb the high fence, he reached up and gave her ass a boost.
"Thanks," she whispered, struggling to get over the top. "We'll have to bring wire cutters next time."
"Won't be a next time." He dropped on the other side, and then he reached up and helped her to the ground.
They dashed for the next fence and the promise of deep woods and the security of Forest Park, the bugs cricketing in a chorus as if cheering them on. As long as no park rangers caught them running in the park after it was officially closed for the night, they'd make it just fine.
"How are your knees?" Cassie asked, trying to reach the top of the next fence.
"Need some tender loving care."
She shook her head. He gave her another boost. "Ahh," she said. "Watch where you put your fingers."
"Sorry, hand slipped, but someone seems ready for me again."
"Yeah, but this isn't a really good time." She glanced back at the first fence. The gray wolves were watching them from their enclosure. "Hope nobody sees them watching this way and comes to inspect."
They'd made it over the second fence when Leidolf grabbed Cassie's hand and ran full speed for the safety of the forest.
Footfalls hurried toward the wolf exhibit, and Thompson's deep voice said, "I know, Joe. I'm not happy about it, either. The crew to install security cameras won't be here for another couple of weeks. They have to get funding approved, work orders, you name it."
"That means we'll have to do some surveillance. But the word's not going out until tomorrow. If anyone's going to steal them, it'll take some planning and..."
Leidolf continued to race with Cassie through the woods and then pulled her to a stop. "Let's shift. You okay?"
She nodded, her face flushed, her breathing fast. "I get to do a lot of running when I'm around you."
He shook his head. "Running away from me, you mean. This time we're running together." He kissed her lips again, rubbed her chilled arms, and said, "Let's shift."
"Any second, Thompson and Joe are going to know we've escaped," Cassie said.
"Where are they?" Joe asked.
Cassie shape-shifted and then waited for Leidolf. "Stick close to me, Cassie." Then he shifted and ran off in the direction of Carver's home, his wolf mate by his side.
But this time he meant to keep her safe.
* * *
Tynan stood a little way away, while Irving tilted his head to the side and smiled, but the look was pure maliciousness as he faced Alice and her sister. "Your father wouldn't want you girls running around in a closed park at night, now would he?"
Tynan shook his head. "Nope. You belong in bed. Run along now."
"Leidolf's--" Sarah
said.
Alice bumped her arm as if she lost her balance. She didn't trust the men, and the girls were supposed to be quiet about Leidolf and his confinement in the zoo.
"We were just taking a walk. Guess we lost track of time," Alice coolly said.
"We won't tell your dad. Run along home now." Irving wasn't much taller than Alice, and the way he considered her--like he'd finally noticed she was not just a kid--gave her the creeps.
She didn't like it that he thought he could boss her around, either. Her father, yes. Leidolf, certainly. One of the other sub-leaders, of course. But not these men who broke Leidolf's rules all the time.
"Thanks," Alice said, then grabbed Sarah's hand and hurried her back in the direction of the house.
"What about Leidolf?" Sarah whispered to her, trying to keep up with Alice's quickened pace.
"We'll have to go farther around, maybe by the elk exhibit." Alice's phone vibrated, and she jerked it out of her pocket. "Evan, where are you?" she asked, her voice hushed.
"I'm right outside the fence for the wolves' exhibit. But I smelled Leidolf and Cassie beyond the fence. I think they've already escaped. If they did slip out, they'll be headed for your house," he said, his voice low.
"Irving and Tynan are out here."
Silence.
"Evan?"
"Go home. I'm headed that way. Don't stop for anything. Just go."
"Evan, what's wrong?"
"Trust me... just go."
Alice's heart was beating spastically as she shoved her phone back in her pocket. She grabbed her sister's hand and rushed for the house.
"What's wrong?" Sarah whispered.
"I don't know. Evan knows something about Irving and Tynan, but he wouldn't say. It's not good. The good news is Leidolf and Cassie freed themselves and are on their way to our home."
That's when gunshots rang out. Alice and Sarah froze and then dropped to the ground.
"Where is the shooting coming from?" Sarah whispered.
"Directly behind us."
"From where we just left Irving and Tynan," Sarah added.
"But neither was carrying a rifle." Alice listened for any sounds to indicate the men were headed in their direction, but except for the bugs making all their ruckus and the breeze tossing the branches about, no other sounds intruded.
"Then someone's shooting at them."
* * *
"I want you to stay in the Humvee," Carver told Aimee as they pulled up along a street near the zoo, with five other pickups owned by pack members parking behind them as they arrived in rescue mode to free Leidolf and Cassie from the zoo.
But Aimee wasn't staying behind. If she could save her cousin this time, she'd be there for her. "What's the plan?" She climbed out of the vehicle wearing Carver's shirt and jacket and his boxers, while he was left wearing his sweater and jeans.
"You're not dressed for this kind of weather, no shoes even," he scolded, trying to convince her to stay behind.
Elgin, Fergus, and the other men gathered around. Elgin offered, "I'll leave a couple of my men with you."
"I'm not worried about Irving if I stay with you," she said, tugging at Carver's sweater.
Elgin sniffed the air. In a hushed voice, he said, "Leidolf and Cassie have already broken out on their own. But Evan's out here, too."
Fergus growled under his breath, "He'll be grounded for a year."
Carver hurried to join them with Aimee in tow, joining in on the conversation but keeping his voice low in the event that zoo personnel were in the vicinity. "They'll be headed for my place. Come on. Let's go."
That's when they heard men rushing out of the wolf's pen. Carver and the rest of Leidolf's people stood in the woods quietly listening.
"I can't believe they're really not there," Joe said. "How in the hell did they know the wolves were here already? And free them so quickly? No fences cut that I could see. Just a man and woman's bare footprints. Hell, how could anyone be running around in bare feet in this cold, and why?"
"We'll stop them this time," Thompson said. "They can't have freed the wolf with pups and Big Red, too." He paused at the next exhibit. "Gray wolves are still here. The thieves were only after the red wolves. Come on."
"You know what this reminds me of?"
"What, Joe?"
"That Bella Wilder found naked here last year. You don't think they're some kind of cult that runs around naked with wolves, do you?"
Thompson laughed. "Hell if I know. Maybe they didn't think we could track them if they left footprints instead of boot treads. Who knows?"
Carver and the others returned to the vehicles and drove to Carver's home just up the road. Built back in the late eighteen-hundreds, the house had large enclosed porches and five bedrooms. It was perfect for pack gatherings when members were in Portland because the house backed up on Forest Park. For once, Carver felt a pang of sympathy for Fergus having to deal with a son who was too busy kissing the girls to do any real ranching--and now was in as much trouble as their new pack members. Although he remembered being the same way when he was a teen, and he sure as hell didn't want Evan around his daughters because of it.
When he arrived at his home, he did a double take when he spied Leidolf's yellow Jag sitting in the driveway, and immediately he thought of... Evan.
But what was he doing at his house? No, they'd smelled his scent at the zoo. He had to have gone to rescue Leidolf.
His girls!
A sickening dread filled him. He'd kill Evan if the girls went with him and anything bad happened to them.
* * *
"Did your bullets hit Leidolf?" Tynan whispered, somewhere several yards away from where Alice and Sarah lay still in the ferns.
Terrified, Alice reached for her sister's hand and held on tight.
"I don't think so. He would have yelped," Irving whispered back.
They meant to kill Leidolf?
Sarah shivered, and a chill ran up Alice's spine. They had to warn Cassie and Leidolf. They had to warn Evan.
Alice's phone vibrated in her pocket, but she didn't dare open it for fear Irving and Tynan would see the light from it.
"We've got to reach them before they get to Carver's house. The pack will gather there as soon as the rest get word Leidolf's thought to be in the zoo," Irving warned.
"I think we should just get out of here. Leave well enough alone. We couldn't find that woman's body, and if Leidolf or any of their men discover it, we're in big trouble. We missed killing Leidolf again. We're going to end up just like Alfred, feeding the worms beneath the earth," Tynan said.
"He took us in, damn it. When no other pack wanted us, Alfred gave us a home and taught us what we needed to know about being werewolves. He appreciated us for all that we did for him. That damn Leidolf took over, and if he learns what we've done... hell, once we get rid of him permanently, we can take over. Elgin and the others will never be able to run the pack on their own without having to look to someone else for guidance. And they'll get it. From me. Come on, we're wasting time."
They moved away from the girls, and Alice's phone vibrated again. But the men were still too close for Alice to risk opening it.
Once the men's footfalls completely faded away, Alice opened her phone and looked at her missed calls. "One from Dad, and the other from Evan," she whispered to Sarah.
Since Evan was in the woods and in more danger, she called him first. "Evan," she whispered, "Irving's trying to kill Leidolf."
"Lock all the doors. Deadbolt them. You're home, right?"
Tears in her eyes, she shook her head. "No, we didn't make it. Irving started shooting, and we dropped to the ground."
A significant pause followed. "All right. Stay where you are. I'm tracking them."
"No, Evan. Stay away from them."
"My dad called to check up on me when they headed back to town and he could get reception again. He told me Irving and Tynan are to be taken into custody and held at the ranch. They tried to kill Cassie's co
usin."
"Cassie's cousin?"
"Yeah, Aimee is her name. Just stay there. I'll call you later."
"Did you tell him about Leidolf and Cassie being at the zoo?"
"No. I figured since they're headed into town, he probably already knew. I didn't mention I was here. Figured I'd get an earful. Especially when he learns I drove the Jag here. I've got to go. Just stay quiet."
"Irving is armed, Evan. You can't risk going after him."
"He might be armed, but not the way he thinks. Keep yourself safe, Alice. I'll call you." Then he clicked the phone off, and the deafening silence stirred her into action.
She called her father. He immediately answered.
"Dad--," she said.
"Where--"
Alice broke in before she got a big lecture. "Irving and Tynan are trying to kill Leidolf. We're in the woods about a mile from home. Sarah and I are keeping still, but you need to save Leidolf and Cassie! Evan's trying to track Irving and Tynan down, but he's going to get himself killed." Unwelcome tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Are you safe?"
"Yes, we're fine. But the others aren't."
Her dad's voice an order, he said, "We're on our way. Stay put."
But staying put wasn't at all what Alice had in mind.
* * *
As soon as the gunshots sounded in Forest Park, Leidolf's heart leaped, and he prompted Cassie in their wolf forms as he bumped her shoulder to run in a more westerly direction. How did the zoo men locate them so quickly? He didn't think it could be hunters. But no matter what, whoever was shooting at them couldn't keep up at a wolf's pace. Police sirens soon wailed as they headed in the direction of the zoo.
His heart thundering, all Leidolf cared about was getting Cassie safely to Carver's place. The idea that she would get shot again made his blood run cold.
The sirens wailed louder as they drew closer. Thompson and Joe must have discovered that Cassie and he had escaped from the red wolf exhibit. Or maybe the police were after whoever was shooting unlawfully in the closed park.