Wild Wolf Claiming

by Rhyannon Byrd

  He thought of the things the mercs had told him and the others—things not even everyone in his world believed in—and decided that sharing something like that right now would be a bad idea. So he licked his lips, and muttered, “Not really.”

  She smirked, as if she’d seen right through him, and started to go around him again.

  “Wait. Please,” he begged, backing up and shifting a little to the right, so that he could stay in front of her. Stabbing his fingers back through his hair, he sounded desperate even to his own ears as he said, “I know things seem really weird between us right now, but if you’d just tru—”

  “Don’t!” she snapped, fisting her empty hand at her side as she glared up at him. “I swear to God, Elliot—if you say something stupid, like I should trust you, I will freaking scream!”

  He ran his hand over his mouth, and this time when she went to move around him, he didn’t try to stop her.

  Well, hell, he thought, slumping against the counter as he heard his bedroom door open and shut. That hadn’t exactly gone well.

  Making his way back out to the living room, he dropped down onto the sofa just as his phone signaled a text. He pulled it out, scowling at the automatic reminder his calendar had sent him about the party, when he’d been hoping the message was from Max. He needed to hear from the guy, because he knew that his partner was definitely...off. And while he hadn’t been lying when he’d told Skye that Max would do whatever it took to keep Vivian Jackson safe, what he hadn’t told her was that Max hadn’t sounded good—or at all like himself. And that was worrying the shit out of him.

  Just as he was slipping the phone back into his pocket, it started to vibrate, and he was surprised to see that the call was from Monroe, since he’d talked to the guy just that morning. His conversation with the Fed was short and to the point, but it left him seething with fury.

  According to Monroe, a young couple who’d been out hiking near one of the state parks, down in the nearby human town of Wesley, had been massacred. The Fed’s gut told him the wargs had followed them to Maryland, and were responsible for the gruesome killings, and Elliot agreed. So far, Monroe’s unit had managed to keep the media from learning about the murders, but the longer the wargs were left to roam through Wesley, which sat at the base of the mountains, the greater the chance that they’d catch the attention of the local police—and that would only cause trouble for the Silvercrest pack.

  So, yeah, it was important they were dealt with as quickly as possible. But the fact they were there for Skye—for his woman—was the driving force behind every decision that Elliot made.

  When Monroe asked if he’d fill in the others and let them know what was happening, he told him he would, then ended the call.

  Moving to his feet, Elliot realized that the first thing he had to do was deal with Skye. At the meeting that morning, Mason had made it clear to everyone that if the safe house had been on the wargs’ radar, then they would be stupid to assume the bastards didn’t know about the Alley, as well. Seeing as this was where the Runners’ families lived, their security levels were already high, but Mason had put plans into motion to have the security around the Alley and Shadow Peak made even tighter. So even with most of the others heading up to the party, the woods would still be teeming with patrols, and Elliot knew the wargs wouldn’t be getting anywhere close to this place.

  They had to know it, too. Which was most likely the reason why they’d made the kills down in Wesley look like a rogue feeding—because they were trying to draw Elliot out, and to use him to get to Skye.

  He was getting ready to walk back to the bedroom to talk to her, needing to feed her a story so he could slip away, when she stuck her head around the end of the hallway and told him that she hadn’t slept well the night before, so she was going to skip dinner and go to bed early.

  “Are you... Will you be here tonight?” she asked, giving him a curious look.

  “I need to run out for a meeting,” he murmured, licking his bottom lip, “but then I’ll be back.”

  “All right,” she said, pulling her own lip through her teeth as she nodded. “Just...be careful.”

  With that, she turned and headed back down the hallway, and it took everything Elliot had not to call out to her. Or better yet, simply follow her into the bedroom, lie down with her and do everything he could to reestablish their connection. But he didn’t have the time, damn it, because there was too much to do if he was going to pull this off.

  Thankfully, he wasn’t flying completely blind. Ever since Skye had agreed to come to the Alley with him, he’d had an idea brewing in the back of his mind. All it’d taken earlier that morning was a quick call up to Lindy, one of Max’s friends who lived in Shadow Peak and who worked for one of the pack’s security teams, and she’d told him she was more than happy to help. That he just had to let her know when she was needed. So Elliot quickly pulled up her number on his phone, and asked her to meet him at the gas station that sat right at the foot of the mountain, on the main highway. Then he called Lev’s number, and told the merc how he wanted this to go down.

  Seeing as how his fellow Runners were all family men now, he didn’t want to pull them into this mess until it was absolutely necessary. And the mercs would be more than enough backup. They were ruthless and deadly fighters, and they already had a good handle on what this group would bring to a battle. Hell, they knew more about the wargs than any of them did.

  Plus, they could cry off from the scouts’ party by simply saying they’d had something come up, since they still took work that had nothing to do with the Runners or the pack.

  “How are you getting out of the scout thing?” Lev asked, when Elliot explained that he didn’t want the Runners to know anything about his plans.

  “I’ll text Mase and tell him Skye isn’t up for it. That she’s still coming to grips with being here, and we just need to spend some time on our own.”

  The merc didn’t say anything for a moment, and Elliot knew the guy was running it all through his head.

  “You sure you want to do it this way?” Lev finally asked, after giving a rough sigh. “Mason and the others are gonna be seriously pissed when they realize what you’ve done.”

  “I’ll handle Mason. You just get the other mercs together and set up close enough that you can reach us when we need you. We’re gonna be in the parking lot behind the Grayson Industrial Center in two hours.”

  It would be dark by then, and all the businesses in the center had closed down the year before, giving them the privacy they needed. Plus, with the rear parking lot backing onto one of the town parks, it would be a believable place for a werewolf like Elliot to take his girl for a walk under the stars. Not that he’d ever be stupid enough to do such a careless thing, when they were in danger, but he was banking on the wargs simply thinking he was an arrogant bastard who thought he could do as he liked.

  “You know,” Lev muttered, “you should just let us go and track these assholes down, while you stay here with Skye.”

  “This is my responsibility,” he argued. “No way in hell am I passing it off.”

  Ending the call, he shoved the phone into his pocket, confident that his plan would work. The only thing that didn’t sit well with him was keeping Skye in the dark. She deserved to know what was going on, but he couldn’t risk her talking him out of it. Not when he knew this was his best shot at taking out—if not all—then at least a good portion of Chiswick’s thugs.

  Wanting to check on her before he left, Elliot quietly moved down the hallway and opened his bedroom door. She was already asleep on the bed, and he wasted precious minutes just soaking in the beautiful sight of her, his heart aching for everything he was so afraid they were going to lose. They’d slammed into a massive brick wall so hard he was still reeling, and he didn’t know how to get around it without losing her.

  Because despite what Sayre had said, he was still so goddamn terrified that Skye wouldn’t be able to accept the truth.

&nb
sp; Knowing he was short on time, Elliot forced himself to leave the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He grabbed his tactical gear from the locked closet in his office, then the keys to Skye’s car and a few other things that he needed, and headed out through the back door to his Jeep.

  When he met up with Lindy, who was similar to Skye in appearance, he gave her his mate’s sweater and jeans that he’d taken from the dirty laundry, and waited while she used the ladies room to change. By the time the wargs realized Skye’s scent was coming from the clothes, and not the woman herself, it would be too late. He’d have already drawn them out, and with the mercs’ help, the bastards would be destroyed.

  Leaving Lindy’s car at the gas station, they headed into Wesley, and drove straight to the site of the murders. Lev had called to say that he and the other mercs were on their way and would be in position soon, but Elliot tried to stay calm, knowing they could have a long wait ahead of them.

  Asking Lindy to stay in the Jeep, he made a show of getting out and speaking to the guys Monroe had guarding the site, making sure that he was seen by anyone who might be running surveillance. After about twenty minutes, he got back in the Jeep, and he and Lindy headed to the Grayson Industrial Center.

  “What now?” she asked, as he pulled into a spot in the rear parking lot and cut the engine.

  “Now we wait,” he replied, scanning the tree-filled parkland that butted up against the lot.

  She checked the clip in her gun, then slipped it back into her waistband. “Do you really think they’ll take the bait?”

  “I think they’re too desperate not to,” he said, turning his head to look at her. “Just stay sharp, and if it turns to shit, you take the Jeep and get out of here.”

  She narrowed her brown eyes at him, clearly insulted. “What the hell, Elliot? I can fight.”

  “I know you can, Lindy. But these assholes aren’t like anything you’ve ever gone up against. I won’t have your death on my hands. You understand?”

  “Yeah,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she slid him a dark look. “But when I get to meet this girl of yours, I’m warning her that you’re a bossy ass.”

  With a gritty laugh, he turned his attention back to the dark parkland, anxious to get things started. The plan was for the mercs to set up close enough that they could reach them quickly, but without being detected. The guys had said that wargs weren’t known for their sense of smell, so he was counting on them being unable to pick up the mercs’ scent until it was too late.

  Pulling his phone out, he called Lev. “You in position?” he asked, when the merc answered.

  “Yeah,” Lev murmured, and he could hear the guy opening his truck door. “We’re about a block down the road. Sam and James have gone to run some recon on the area. When they get back, we’re gonna...” He paused, then made a rough sound of surprise. “Well, shit. Look who we have here.” Another pause, and then, “Elliot, man, you’re not going to like this. But we had a stowaway in the back of the truck, hiding under the tarp. And she definitely belongs to you.”

  Chapter 14

  Elliot’s pulse started to roar in his ears like a goddamn freight train, and rage unlike anything he’d ever known swept through his system, along with the kind of cold, bone-chilling fear that could make you stupid.

  “Hey, man,” Lev said into the phone. “Did you hear me?”

  “Where. Are. You?” he bit out, the words feeling like gravel in his throat.

  “Just off of Kane Street, behind the dry cleaners.”

  “I’m on my way,” he grated, cranking the Jeep’s engine. “Fucking lock her down and don’t take your eyes off her.”

  He shoved his phone back in his pocket, ignoring Lindy’s questioning look as he reversed out of the parking space so quickly the tires spun, then tore out of the place. When he pulled into the lot behind the cleaners and spotted the mercs’ trucks, Elliot slammed on the brakes, jumping out from behind the wheel while the Jeep was still rocking.

  As he headed toward the group standing beside one of the trucks, his phone started going off like crazy in his pocket, but he ignored it. His breaths kept coming in rough, uneven bursts, until Lev shifted to the side and he spotted Skye, and then a visceral, animalistic growl rumbled up from his chest. Christ, he didn’t think he’d ever been this furious in his entire life.

  “Please don’t be mad at me!” she cried, suddenly rushing past Lev and Kyle, and throwing her arms around his waist. She squeezed him so tight it made his heart clench, and Elliot had never seen her skin so pale, or her eyes so wild with fear. Lifting up on her toes, she pressed her lips to the stubble on his clenched jaw, then tried to kiss his lips, but he set his hands against her shoulders and pushed her back.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, glaring down at her.

  She flinched at the guttural sound of his voice, but didn’t back away from him. “I...I knew something was up when Monroe called you. I didn’t mean to, but I heard you on the phone with him.”

  “So you faked being asleep?”

  She nodded, the way she lifted her chin telling him she didn’t regret it. “Yes, and I kept the bedroom door cracked open while you were talking to Lev. I heard you planning...all this. You freaking lied to me. Again!”

  He licked his lips. “I didn’t lie.”

  “You sure as hell didn’t tell the truth!” she shot back, cutting a sharp look over toward his Jeep, where Lindy was waiting off to the side...dressed in Skye’s clothes. Shit!

  Refusing to go on the defensive, he pointed a finger toward Lev’s truck. “And what do you call this stunt you’ve pulled? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? How much danger you’ve put yourself in?”

  “I don’t care.” She trembled as she drew in a deep breath, and he could have sworn she looked even paler as she pushed both hands into her hair, her gaze focused on the patch of dirty asphalt that stretched between them. Hands falling to her sides, she said, “I just... I couldn’t stand the thought of you facing off against those monsters because of me and not being here to help.”

  He made a thick, rude sound that had her flinching again. “And what the fuck can you do to help, Skye?”

  She swallowed, but didn’t back down. Instead, she squared her shoulders and lifted her head, glaring right back at him. “I’ve got a weapon. I took it from your cabin.”

  His eyes bulged when she drew the handgun he’d taken from the safe house in Pennsylvania from the canvas purse that hung across her body. “Do you even know how to use that thing?” he roared. He could see the two mercs looking on with worried expressions, but warned them to stay back with a single glance.

  “I wouldn’t have taken it if I didn’t know what I was doing,” she muttered.

  “How, Skye?”

  She slipped the gun back into her purse, and he could hear the frustration in her low voice as she told him, “I didn’t exactly have the best childhood. And, no, this is not the time to get into it. But I’ve been in danger before. I know how to be smart.”

  “Nothing about this is smart,” he snarled, grinding the heels of his hands against his burning eyes. “Christ. What was it you said about stupid girls that first night I met you? That they end up dead?” Dropping his hands into fists at his sides, he closed the space between them with a single step, so pissed off he was damn near breathing fire. “It doesn’t get more stupid than this shit!”

  With her head tilted back so that she could look him in the eye, she asked, “Are we just going to keep hurling insults at each other?”

  “No. You’re not doing anything but getting the hell away from here.”

  “Elliot, I know you don’t understand. But the thought of you in danger... I couldn’t...” She pulled in another deep breath, and then slowly let it out as she kept her watery gaze locked tight on his. “I know you’re angry about what I’ve done, but please try to understand that it’s only because I...I didn’t have any other choice.”

  He coul
d have sworn there was something important she was trying to tell him, but he was too angry at the moment to figure it out. And then he caught sight of James and Sam coming around the back corner of the building on his right, and he knew the situation had just taken a turn for the worse.

  Both mercs were carrying a body over their shoulders, and from the scent of the corpses, Elliot could tell they were wargs.

  “Well, hell,” Kyle muttered, as the mercs dumped the bodies into one of the truck beds. “Didn’t take you guys long to find trouble.”

  “Tried to question them,” Sam muttered, wiping his bloodstained hands on his jeans, “but the assholes wouldn’t stop trying to kill us.”

  Lev snorted like a smart-ass. “You definitely put an end to the conversation.”

  “Were there any others?” Elliot asked, curling one hand around Skye’s upper arm as he headed over to the truck.

  James shook his head. “Not that we saw.”

  Scrubbing his free hand over the bottom half of his face, Elliot stared down at the bodies through narrowed eyes, as if they were somehow going to give him the answers he needed. “There have to be more of them.”

  “Yeah,” Lev muttered in agreement. “But this would be a shit location to face off against them. There’s a crowded bar just down the road. If we get caught here, we won’t be able to use any tactical weapons without the risk of drawing unwanted attention.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” he grated, knowing the entire goddamn night was a bust. “The important thing is that we get Skye back up to the Alley. I’ll find a way to deal with these assholes later.”

  Everyone nodded their agreement, and then Kyle said, “I’ll tell Lindy we’re calling it a night. If you want, Lev and I can give her a lift back to her car. Then we’ll follow behind her and make sure she gets home safe.”