by Lisa Kessler
But I couldn’t get into that headspace tonight. I didn’t have time for the wolf right now. Becca needed me. Yet, here I was in the sticks behind the ranch stripping off my clothes, and somewhere in Phoenix my mate was facing… Fuck if I knew, but it couldn’t be good. I should be with her.
A shot of gut-wrenching pain speared through my spine as it lengthened, and the bones in my legs snapped, dropping me to the ground. The physical agony was almost welcome after the mental anguish I’d been suffering. At least it distracted me from imagining Becca being beaten by her uncle.
My skin split open, and copper-brown fur sprouted as the bones in my face jutted forward into a snout. By the time the transformation was complete, the wolf lay on his side, panting through the residual aches. Finally, he scrambled to his feet and shook off the dazed exhaustion.
We sniffed the air as our Alpha howled in the distance, calling the pack. Jett’s massive black wolf would be running along the perimeter to ensure the pack stayed together and far from human eyes. We had a non-pack wolf among us tonight.
Asher decided to allow General Sloan to shift with us to be certain he wasn’t accidentally discovered by humans. The ranch was very remote, and there was safety in numbers. It made sense on paper, but it still didn’t sit well with me.
Sloan had stolen my future from me. I’d planned to become a pilot after my discharge from the military. I’d wanted a steady income and to buy a house big enough that my Grands could move in if she ever needed the extra support. But Sloan put Sedona in my head. I thought I’d stop and check out the sights he’d mentioned on my way home to Portland. I was bitten the second night of my stay and locked up for months.
I pushed the painful memories aside. If Sloan hadn’t mentioned me to Caldwell, I wouldn’t have Henry and Hawk. I needed to let go of my anger over the past and focus on the future. I encouraged the wolf to move toward our Alpha. Gradually, he trotted and then raced toward the valley. There was a freedom in running with the wolves that I couldn’t quantify in human terms. It almost made the pain of the shift worthwhile. But it had taken months for me to find a balance with my wolf. It had been jarring to give up control to an animal and just be along for the ride.
Now we worked together. I could influence the animal somewhat, but tonight something was…off. Maybe it was having Sloan with us, but my wolf slowed his pace, suddenly hesitant to follow Asher’s call. He jogged to a stop, looking back in the direction of the house. I tried again to get him to move, but instead, he turned around.
What the hell?
Then I recognized a scent on the air. Sloan wasn’t headed for the valley as he should be. We growled, quietly tracking the general’s wolf. We found him behind Asher’s house. He was silver and practically glowed in the moonlight. He had a regal aura to him, like a warlord among wolves. A true lone wolf.
He lifted his snout, scenting the desert breeze. We were upwind, safe from his notice as we crept through the brush, stalking him. His earlier words came back to me. He’d been a lone wolf for most of his life. He’d lost his pack, never found his mate, and was left with only a mission to guard the secret of our race.
I almost felt bad for him.
He bent to smell the ground, and his ears flattened as he moved around the house, just outside the reach of the outdoor floodlights. Where was he going? Asher had warned him that Vance would be patrolling the area. And Chandler was in the house with all the kids. Our two pack jaguars wouldn’t be shifting until the new moon.
I followed Sloan as a gust of wind came through the trees, carrying another scent I recognized. A jaguar shifter, but not Vance. It was the sniper who had fired into my apartment.
Shit. Adrenaline laced our bloodstream and my wolf growled. We sprinted out of the brushes careful to stay low to the ground. The pads of my big feet kept my gait silent across the red dirt. Sloan glanced my way as I approached. I nudged his side, refusing to yield to him. He lifted his lip, barring his teeth, but I bumped his head with my own.
He stopped trying to push for my submission and tipped his snout up to sniff the air again, snarling. He must’ve caught the jaguar’s scent too. The jaguar shifter was close, but he would be in human form, most likely with his finger on the trigger of a rifle fitted with a long-distance scope. We had heightened senses and strength, but we weren’t fast enough to outrun a bullet.
I shouldn’t care. If Sloan had a death wish, that wasn’t my problem. Easy to say, but I still couldn’t let him get shot. I pushed Sloan again, waiting for him to look in my direction. If we could flush the jaguar shifter out in the open, Vance could take the guy down with one shot himself. I’d warn him if I could speak. Sloan growled as we bumped him again.
He finally took the hint and jogged around the back of the house to the other side. Vance was dressed in all black, crouching in the shadows of the steps going up to the front door. I crept closer, and he swung his gun in my direction.
“Fuck.” He hissed under his breath. “Get out of here, mate. Let me do my job. I smell him out there, too. He’s not getting inside the house.” He glanced my way. “Now get the hell out of here before you get shot.”
From the far side of the house, a silver wolf sprinted for the tree by the front gate. Shots echoed through the night, hitting the dirt and raising puffs of dust next to the wolf. At least Sloan had gotten the jaguar shifter to reveal his position up in the branches. Maybe now Vance could take him out.
Suddenly, my wolf tore off before I could force any influence over him. The lure of the hunt carried more power than I did anyway.
“Dammit,” Vance grunted as he ran to take cover behind one of the cars parked in the front.
My wolf raced after Sloan. I did manage to get the animal to serpentine and avoid being a target. Sloan stopped at the base of a large live oak tree. Was he trying to get shot?
We spotted a man dressed in black squatting on a massive branch of the tree, with his rifle barrel resting on top if another branch, steadying his aim. As we neared the tree, he abandoned his rifle and jerked a handgun from his holster. He pulled back the slide. Shit. I pushed my wolf to intervene. We bumped Sloan out of the way, but the man in the tree didn’t fire. I looked up as he turned the gun toward his own chest. What the fuck was happening?
A massive black wolf walked toward us—Jett. His ears were flattened, and a strange sound came from him. My wolf tilted his head, studying the high-pitched noise that vacillated between a whine and a snarl. The sick, anguished sound turned my stomach.
We looked back up at the sniper. His hand trembled as he released the safety. Terror flashed in his eyes, but he gripped the handle of his gun, his finger sliding over the trigger. Oh shit. Inside, I shouted at my wolf. We needed this guy alive. He was the key to finding where they were keeping our mate.
Becca’s face filled my mind, and that image had my wolf leaping into action. We bolted forward, ramming Jett’s wolf in the side, knocking him off-balance. It seemed to snap him out of whatever had been causing him distress, and above us, the jaguar shifter startled, turning his gun on us again instead of himself.
“Drop it!” Vance’s voice. He came closer to the tree, his gun raised, too.
“Fuck you,” the sniper answered.
Vance let out a humorless chuckle. “No thanks, mate.” He pulled the trigger.
The shot deafened my ears. The jaguar shifter in the tree screamed, and his gun fell to the ground. He was still alive. I jogged to Vance’s side, nudging his leg.
He glanced my way without lowering his gun. “Ease up. I only winged him. We can still question him.”
“I’m not telling you shit.” The sniper cradled his right hand in his lap.
Vance kept his attention focused on the downed man, but the words were for me. “Go shift back. I’ll watch him.”
We growled at the man and turned for the shadows.
The sniper whispered, “You’ll never find her. She’s been playing you, wolf.”
We spun around, racing towa
rd the man on the ground. He put his hands up to protect his face, but Vance stepped between us. “He’s just riling you up.”
The sniper chuckled. “She’s been in on it from the beginning. Did you really think she didn’t know there was a restraining order? It was her idea.”
The wolf ran on instinct, eager to end the threat to his mate, but deep inside, the sniper’s words played on my darkest fear of losing my boys. He was lying. Becca would never take them from me.
“Did you really think she wanted a werewolf? You thought you’d just be a happy family?” He spat on the ground. “I heard you were bitten, but I didn’t think it made you stupid. Humans fear us; they don’t fall in love with us.”
“Enough, asshole.” Vance landed a solid kick to the sniper’s ribs.
He curled up on his side, groaning.
Vance shook his head. “How about you shut the fuck up until we ask you a question?” He turned to me. “Go shift back.”
We loped back toward the rocks where I stashed my clothes. Nothing the sniper had said was true. Becca loved me. She’d told me so at the hospital last night.
The wolf stopped and lowered himself to the ground while I struggled to quiet my mind. Forcing a shift back into my human form was still new to me. I’d only done it once before and I had the added push of my Alpha telling us to shift back which aided the metamorphosis somewhat because the animals were eager to please their Alpha. Asher was still out running with the pack this time so I was on my own.
Shifting back into a man was just as painful as the initial shift into the wolf, but forcing the shift had the added difficulty of requiring me to welcome and envision the process in order to bring it on before the end of the night. And embracing the shift was tough since it hurt like a motherfucker. It was like trying to wish I could break my own arm. It went against all my natural instincts.
But I needed to find Becca. I had to protect her and my boys.
The wolf panted, and pain overwhelmed us.
CHAPTER 22
Becca
The sky began to lighten over me, bringing the outline of Lookout Mountain into view. If I could get to the top, there was a busy viewpoint area. If I got lucky, I might be able to borrow someone’s cell phone or maybe get a ride to the address Serenity had given me.
I repositioned myself into a crouch, wincing at the tightness in my legs. I had no concept of how long I’d been lying low, but between the exhaustion of no sleep, the fuzziness in my head from the concussion, and my stiff muscles, this was going to be a gnarly hike.
Nothing moved around me. Maybe they had given up searching for me. I stood and did my best to stretch and loosen up. From here, I could either keep going up the mountain or I could try going back down toward the streetlights in the distance. Rational thinking was taxing at the moment. If my uncle had pulled some strings to get a restraining order against Gage on my behalf without my knowledge, it wasn’t much of a leap to think he could call the police chief and ask them to watch for his battered niece.
Climbing the mountain was looking better every second.
I sucked in a deep breath. If I was going to do this, I needed to push. The sun would be up soon, and with it, the temperatures would push into the upper nineties. I took out the water bottle and took a couple of sips. After stuffing it back into my pocket, I started up the summit side. There was a marked trail around here someplace. I’d hiked it before, but in the dim light, I couldn’t find it. My current path had been made by small animals so the bushes brushed against my legs, making me glad I was wearing long pants instead of shorts.
One foot in front of the other.
I could do this.
Head down and hike.
Gradually the walk became a meditation. I kept thinking about Gage and the boys. I had to keep moving if I ever wanted to see them again. My thoughts kept trying to spiral into the future, into worrying about how my uncle might use the law to come after his grandsons. What if he filed a suit to have the boys’ DNA tested? If he really wanted to expose werewolves to the world, that could do it. Their DNA would be nothing like any the scientists had ever seen before. There would be questions, and eventually, shifters wouldn’t be a secret anymore.
But Uncle Mitch wanted to cure them. So maybe he wouldn’t risk exposing them to the world as werewolves. But if he didn’t use DNA to link the boys to him, how could he legally come after them?
The what-ifs were stoking the fire of my anxiety. I could worry about those things later. For now, I had to figure out how I was going to get back to Sedona without a wallet, cell phone, or identification, and without stumbling into a police station.
I kept walking, mentally marking off the tools I didn’t have at my disposal. No Uber. No Google Maps. No cash for a cab. But Serenity had given me an address here in Phoenix. If I could get there, presumably I would find help.
I just had to get there.
The sun peeked over the top of the mountain, already spiking the heat. As sweat dripped down my face and my back, I cringed. All the garlic I’d used to cover my trail was coming back to bite me in the ass. I reeked. No Good Samaritan was going to let me in their car. There was a bathroom at the rest area; maybe I could wash some of it off.
I kept moving, stopping for water and wishing I had my hiking poles as I neared the summit. My knees ached, and my entire body seemed sluggish, weighted down by exhaustion. When I finally crested the mountain and the rest area came in view, I bent over at the waist, huffing air into my lungs. I needed a shower and a long rest. Maybe a week.
The sound of an engine caught my attention. I looked up as a ranger truck pulled into the parking area. A tall, slender guy with silver hair got out carrying a few trash bags. Hope filled me. This was my chance. I thought I was jogging, but it might’ve just been stumbling toward the ranger.
He straightened and smiled as I approached. “Good morning. Sunrise hike?”
“Something like that.” I hoped I was downwind so he wouldn’t catch my current stench. “I lost my cell phone. Is there any way I could use yours to make a call really quick?”
“Sure.” He came over and held out a cell phone. His nose wrinkled as he handed it over, but he was kind enough not to comment.
I still didn’t have Gage’s number, so I called the office. Asher wouldn’t be there yet, but I could leave a message. If technology was on my side, it would even forward to his cell phone.
“Asher, it’s Becca. I’m in Phoenix. Serenity gave me an address. I don’t have my phone or my wallet, but I’m trying to get there. I’m at Lookout Mountain right now. See you soon.”
Before handing the phone back to the ranger, I opened his web browser and plucked the paper out of my pocket. I entered the address and frowned. Why would Serenity want me to go to the Arizona Opera? Below the address she had written the name Wendy Cain. Was Wendy part of the pack? I struggled to sort through the memories in my fuzzy head. It sounded familiar.
I closed the browser and carried the phone over to the ranger. “Thank you.”
Then it hit me. Wendy was Chandler’s wife. They just had twins a few months ago. She must have a connection to the opera somehow. I could figure out that part once I got there.
He took the phone, eying me for a second. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Trouble?” Shit. Come on, brain, work. “No, no, just… I’m sort of lost without my phone.”
He tucked his own into his pocket. “Hard to believe we used to live without them, right?” He shook out a trash bag. “Once I finish these cans and check the restrooms, I’ll be heading down the mountain. I could give you a lift.”
Normally, I wouldn’t accept a ride from a stranger, but nothing about my life was normal right now and the thought of getting a little closer to the address on the paper meant I’d be closer to getting back to Sedona and to Gage.
I nodded. “I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.”
I tried to stay out of his way, but I couldn’t help hovering a little, ea
ger to get inside the restroom to try to wash up. When he finally opened the ladies’ room, I dashed inside and straight to the sink. There was no mirror, but the soap dispenser was working. I could at least wash off some of the garlic.
By the time I finished washing my hands, arms, and face, I almost felt human again. I was still in desperate need of a shower, but now I could probably ride in the ranger’s truck without making his eyes water.
When I stepped out, a patrol car from the sheriff’s department was parked next to the ranger’s truck. He probably wasn’t there for me, but he could’ve been. Either way, I wasn’t going to risk walking over there and find out.
I sent up a prayer for my exhausted legs. Just once more hike.
Quietly, I made my way around the back of the building and started down the mountain, staying off the service road and far away from the marked trail. Adrenaline was a welcome friend, helping me keep my attention focused on the rocky terrain. People died every year from falling off the uneven sandy mountain. It was a long way down with sharp rocks and steep drops along the way.
Not to mention the rattlesnakes. I was an experienced hiker and had met my share of snakes over the years. I was good at giving them space, and I’d never had any trouble, but right now I was in a hurry and exhausted. A deadly combination if I wasn’t careful. Panicking would make it worse so I didn’t look over my shoulder to see if I was being followed.
For now, my eyes were on the trail, and my heart was back in Sedona with Gage.
CHAPTER 23
Gage
My gaze flicked to my rearview mirror as I roared down the highway at twenty miles over the speed limit. The sniper was a dead end. He’d finally given us the address of Becca’s uncle in Phoenix, but Serenity confirmed Becca had already escaped.
After Ryker had bitten Serenity, we’d discovered she could astral-project while she was in wolf form. Normally, when her soul left her physical body, she lost consciousness, but during the full moon, her wolf stayed in control and ran with the pack, enabling her human soul to cross distances. Combine that with her telepathic abilities and telekinesis and she was a force to be reckoned with.