by Lisa Kessler
Part of me wished I could run to him and run my fingers through his fur. I wanted to see this other part of the man I’d come to count on, to love. But I couldn’t reach him. I wasn’t even sure if he’d let me touch him.
I didn’t know how to communicate with him in this form, but I didn’t want him to run at Sasha and get shot. I had to do something. Slowly I looked over at the gun, then I met his eyes again. He tipped his snout down and then peered back up at me as if he understood what I was trying to tell him. I was grateful when he didn’t move.
Sasha kept her eyes on the wolf. “Time for you to go, Sebastian.”
“I can’t let you give Lana to Nero, Sasha.”
“You can’t stop me either.”
Without a warning, without a noise, Sebastian knocked Sasha to the ground. Adam started to lunge forward and I shook my head. He flattened his ears and shifted his weight back and forth on his front feet, but thankfully didn’t approach.
Sasha and Sebastian grappled on the ground and after a moment, he broke free with Sasha’s gun in hand and a pair of red scratches on his face. She had also broken the split on his lip wide open. Sasha was quick to get back on her feet, her hair mussed up but otherwise not looking like he’d hit her.
Her eyes narrowed. “Give me the goddamned gun, Sebastian. Haven’t you fucked up my life enough?”
He tucked the gun into the waistband of his pants. “It is not my intention to ruin your plans or your life, Sasha.” His voice softened. “It never was.”
“Ha!” She shook her head. “You could’ve fooled me. I’ve lost everything, you bastard! All of it. Gone. All because of you.”
The bushes rustled, and my heart jumped in my throat. I couldn’t see the other wolves, but I knew they were there. The Pack was together, and I was a jaguar.
An unarmed jaguar. One Adam’s family wouldn’t recognize as an ally.
I took a step back from Sebastian and Sasha, toward Adam. Before I could get much closer, we were bathed in headlights. Sasha was on me again before I even noticed she’d moved.
She tugged my arm up behind my back until I had to walk on my tiptoes, shoving me toward the headlights. A silhouette stepped in front of the lights.
“Is this our subject?”
I frowned. “I don’t belong to you.”
Sasha rewarded me with jerking my arm up even higher behind my back. My eyes brimmed with tears.
“Yes, this is her,” she answered. “Now give me what I want.”
I don’t think the tranquilizer dart that shot toward her was what she had in mind. Sasha crumpled to the ground, and the pain in my arm ceased. I backed away from the lights and Sasha’s body when Adam bolted from the trees, apparently unable to keep the wolf in check any longer. He stood in front of me, growling and baring his teeth at the men in what I could now see was a black van.
I heard the slide of a rifle being cocked and instantly the other wolves appeared from the tree line, springing into action. The headlights shut off then, followed by screams and growls. I reached down to touch the back of Adam’s neck. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Pack would come after me when they finished with the men in the van.
Gunfire broke through the chaos, and a pained yelp came from the same direction. Howls ensued, and I saw a wolf dragging a large body back toward the trees. One of the men from Nero fired his gun up into the sky.
“Enough!” he yelled. “Take out the Alpha.” Then he pointed directly at Adam.
Guns and rifles cocked. Without hesitation, I vaulted over Adam, landing directly in front of him. “No!” I shouted. “Don’t shoot. I’ll go with you. Just no more killing.”
The other wolves backed up, circling around Adam, growling and baring their teeth. Would they kill me before the Nero guys got me? Other than Aren, and a brief peek at Luke, I’d never seen any of them before, and I definitely didn’t know what they looked like as wolves. Plus, they knew nothing about me except that my scent made me a jaguar. I was the enemy. How could they know I was trying to protect Adam?
Adam moved through their protective line and stood between the rest of the Pack and me. The wolves shifted, looking at each other then back up at me. A few bared their teeth, but none of the large animals moved toward me. My fingers slid into Adam’s fur, letting him know I recognized him.
A very light, tan-colored wolf stepped forward. He had bright orange, almost hazel eyes. His hackles were raised up on his back, and he nudged at Adam, but the black wolf didn’t move. I could feel the rumble of Adam’s growl. The other wolf snapped at him, but backed away just the same. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but as other wolves stepped forward to challenge him, Adam resisted their attempts to reach me. They didn’t seem to like it, but it was obvious they respected him.
But Adam told me his father was the Alpha. Not him. Not yet.
A lone howl broke the tension, and all of the wolves turned. This was my chance to give myself up to Nero. No one had to die because of me.
I bent down close to Adam’s head and whispered, “I don’t know if you can understand what I’m saying, but I love you, Adam. I love you.”
And then I turned to go.
Adam snapped at the leg of my pants. I tugged but I couldn’t break free. I stared into the blinding lights of the Nero van and held my hands up.
“Give me a minute,” I called out. I couldn’t see them, but I didn’t hear anyone moving, and no bullets were fired.
When I looked back to try to get Adam to let me go, a huge silver wolf stepped forward. The other wolves parted to let him through. As he got closer I could see his intelligent emerald eyes sparkling in the moonlight, and I knew.
This was Adam’s father.
His upper lip rose up to reveal long, sharp canines, but he didn’t growl. Adam immediately let go of my pant leg, but he didn’t move from in front of me. The Alpha pushed against him and finally snarled, but Adam stood his ground. Circling me, the silver wolf sniffed the air toward the lights of the van, and then started along the back of my leg.
I tried to hold still partly out of fear. This was a wolf, regardless of what he might have been an hour ago, and I stood still for his inspection because he wore the mantle of Alpha. Although I wasn’t a werewolf, on an instinctive level, I recognized his station and respected him for it. But deep down, I really wanted him to accept me. Besides not wanting the Pack to turn on me, I also knew this was Adam’s father. Adam’s family.
I bit back tears. Adam had just admitted his affection for a jaguar, the enemy, in front of his entire family. I wasn’t a secret anymore.
Sadly, it didn’t solve anything. The other wolves made it obvious they wanted Adam away from me. Would he be willing to disobey his father, his Alpha, in front of the Pack? It would humiliate both men. I couldn’t do this. This was Adam’s family, not mine. I didn’t have a family. I had to go.
I spun on my heel to walk to the Nero van, only to come face-to-face with the silver wolf. He barred his teeth and growled again. Before I realized what was happening, the rest of the wolves charged the van, and then the bullets started flying.
“No!” I screamed.
Adam lunged up against my back, knocking me to the ground while gunfire echoed around us. He barked in my face, and I got the distinct feeling he was telling me to stay put. With bullets flying, I was fine with lying low. Adam loped off, and my heart raced. He should be lying low too.
Raising my head as little as possible, I tried to see what was happening, grateful for my excellent night vision. The wolves were everywhere. I heard men screaming, more gunshots, and then I noticed another black wolf, almost identical to Adam, over at the tree line. He was limping and dragging something large with him.
Then I realized what his package was.
Sasha.
Before I could decide if I should stop him or just let him have her, something occurred to me. Where was Sebastian? He’d shown up before all hell broke loose. Before Sasha got knocked out with a tranquilizer dart. I did
n’t see him anywhere.
I turned back toward the van and saw a familiar face. Cyrus.
He raised his gun at Adam and adrenaline shot through my veins. “No!” I jumped to my feet revealing my position. “Leave him alone! I’ll go with you.”
The second his eyes flicked toward me Adam attacked. Gunfire deafened my ears, and a giant silver wolf knocked me to the ground. I struggled, not certain if I was being attacked or protected.
Adam. Please let him be all right.
I rolled out from under the large wolf and rocked up on my knees. Relief swamped my entire body when the black wolf with a bullet hanging from his neck stood over a body growling. Cyrus didn’t struggle. In fact, he laid deathly still.
“Retreat!” A male voice shouted.
Doors slammed and an engine started up. None of the men tried to rescue their fallen leader. The red taillights of the van grew smaller as it drove away. No license plate. Nothing.
A high-pitched whine broke the spell. At the sound, Adam left Cyrus’s mangled body and galloped over to the silver wolf who had knocked me down. He nudged at the silver wolf with his snout and huffing at the Alpha. He wasn’t getting up. I knelt beside the wolf and quickly found blood spreading across his fur.
“Oh God, he’s been shot,” I whispered as the wolves circled around me.
Adam whined again, pushing at the silver wolf’s nose. I ran my hands down his side, grateful when I felt his flanks moving. He was still breathing. I needed to stop the bleeding, fast.
The entire area reeked of blood. I’d never seen anything like it. While I searched for something to use as a compress, my stomach retched, and a dry cough escaped my lips. I forced myself to keep moving until I found one of the Nero agents motionless on the ground, his throat ripped wide open. For a second the horror of it short-circuited my brain. I wasn’t sure where to start with this body.
I looked back at Adam with the silver wolf, his father. The image brought me back, forced me through the fear. I didn’t want Adam to lose his family. Staring back down at the body, I decided not to try to pull his shirt off. I wasn’t sure how well his head was still fastened to his body, I thought all too easily. Instead, I ran to his feet, ripping off his shoes so I could get to his socks.
I hurried back to Adam’s father, fell to my knees, and pressed a sock against the wound, hard enough to enter the bullet hole. The silver wolf whimpered, and I stroked his head gently, hoping it might calm him.
“I’m sorry it hurts. I’m trying to stop the bleeding. Just rest now.”
But instead of resting the wolf started to pant. Hard. His muscles tensed and trembled under my fingertips.
“What’s happening?” I looked over my shoulder, but the big black wolf with the silver bullet around his neck was gone. “Adam?” I called out. “Where are you?”
The hollow sound of joints snapping and popping drew my attention back to the injured wolf. His large body convulsed, and I suddenly realized what was happening.
“You’re shifting.” My eyes welled with tears. “No.” I shook my head. “No, you can’t waste the energy.”
I had no idea if he could understand me. But he was mutating back into a man whether I wanted him to or not. Maybe that’s what happened when they were injured or…dying.
As his fur vanished, leaving smooth tanned skin behind, I saw the exit wound of the bullet through his back. The hole was larger than I’d expected and glistened with fresh blood. I folded the other sock and bent over him to press it against the exit wound. The change was nearly finished, and the man moaned, wincing as I applied pressure.
“We need to get you to a hospital.” My heart was racing. There was too much blood.
“Jason, go change. Now.” The sound of Adam’s voice startled me.
I spun around to find him standing right behind me. He was naked in the moonlight, his jaw set, his eyes determined. One of the tan wolves with orange eyes—Jason, I assumed—raced off into the trees.
“You’re a man again. How?” Forming full sentences felt like performing high level math. “The moon is still full. I…”
Adam answered in spite of my inability to verbalize. “Yeah. It hurts like hell, but we can shift back by force.” Moonlight glistened in the sweat all over his face and chest. “Takes a lot to control the wolf during a full moon, but we can if we have to.”
He knelt beside me, and I met his eyes. “He’s losing too much blood.”
Adam took his father’s hand. “Stay with me, Dad. Jason will be here in a minute. We’ll get you all fixed up.”
The older man’s lashes fluttered and finally opened. There was no denying the resemblance.
“Introduce me,” he whispered. “I want to meet your…mate.”
For a moment Adam’s expression softened. He took my hand, laced his fingers with mine. “This is Lana.” His voice trembled when he looked at me. I could see his pain and his fear for his father, but he cleared his throat and pushed his emotions back when he looked back down at him. “Lana, this is Malcolm, my father and my Alpha.”
My eyes brimmed with tears as Malcolm placed his palm over our joined hands. His mouth curved into a warm smile and his eyes moved between our faces. “Welcome to the Pack, Lana…” His breath wheezed. He winced, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his gaze locked on mine. “I accept you as my son’s mate.”
Adam’s eyes shone in the moonlight, his jaw slack. “But you told me—”
“I was a fool.” He fought to swallow and catch his breath. He glanced at me, and I swore his green eyes sparkled. He stared up at his son. “She’s pregnant, Adam. You didn’t tell me.”
Shock and disbelief shot through me. “You told me you have to bite a woman and convert her before you can have a baby.”
Adam nodded and looked back down at his father. “It’s impossible. I didn’t bite her, Dad.”
He coughed and moaned. “I don’t know how, but she is. Concentrate on her scent.” He pulled in another shallow breath through his nose. “Beyond the jaguar. There’s more. There’s almost your scent mixed with hers.” He nodded to himself. “She’s definitely carrying your child.”
I’m sure my face must’ve looked as shocked as I felt on the inside, my heart racing out of control. I was about to tell them I felt fine—I was pretty sure I’d know if I was pregnant. I wasn’t sick or tired. But before I could say anything, another naked man rushed to kneel beside Malcolm.
He glanced over at me. “Can you give me some room?”
I nodded and got up. Until then I hadn’t even noticed that Malcolm was nude too, but none of it mattered.
Adam watched the man’s every move. He carefully lifted the sock I’d been using for a compress and inspected the wound. Malcolm groaned and hissed as his Packmate explored the wound with his finger.
When he leaned back, he replaced the compress. “The bullet grazed your liver. I’m going to need to do surgery right away.”
Malcolm shook his head, his face glistening with sweat. “No. Just patch me up here.”
The doctor looked up at Adam. “He’s bleeding internally. We’ve got to get him to a hospital.”
“Too risky to the Pack,” Malcolm rasped. “The needs of the Pack come first.”
Adam squeezed his father’s shoulder and looked at the doctor. “Jason, talk to him. He has to understand.”
Jason stared at his patient. “I can’t do surgery here even if I wanted to, Malcolm. I don’t have any of my equipment and not enough light. I can fix this, and you’ll be fine. We just need a hospital.”
Adam got up, his jaw tight and eyes stern. I noticed the black wolf with the injured leg was limping back to the Pack. Aren whimpered and nuzzled his father, nudging his shoulder with his long snout. I looked back at the trees and wondered if Sasha was still alive out there or if the wolf had remembered she was the one who shot him and took his revenge while she was tranquilized.
I reminded myself again that she had been about to trade me to
Nero like a prize cow. She was also planning on shooting Adam.
Adam stared into each wolf’s eyes as they gathered closer around and spoke slowly. “The run is over. Malcolm needs a hospital. Go shift and meet back at the ranch.”
He turned around and knelt down beside Jason. “Let’s get him to the truck.”
“No!” Malcolm bellowed. It was most definitely a command.
The wolves halted and returned to their fallen Alpha.
With my enhanced night vision, I could see the pain in Malcolm’s eyes. He held his hand up to Adam. “Sit me up, boy. I need to say something to my Pack.”
“You need a hospital.”
Malcolm’s silver brow furrowed. “Do as I say, Adam.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Adam
I shot a glare at Jason. Why wasn’t he backing me up? I sighed when he looked away, attending to Malcolm’s exit wound. I was on my own. I turned to my father. I knew it would dishonor him to disobey his wishes in front of the entire Pack, but I couldn’t let him die.
As if he could hear my thoughts, he whispered. “Let me go, son. My life has been full. Let the Pack remember me the way I choose, giving my life under the full moon to save my grandchildren. Please, Adam.”
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek, fighting to keep from scooping him up off the ground and running him to the hospital on foot. “Dad, please don’t do this. You don’t have to die. Not now.”
He moved his head, trying to see past me. “Where is your mate?”
Lana knelt down beside me. “I’m here.”
Malcolm took her hand. While the Pack watched, he brought my hand to hers and joined them together. I could feel tremors racing through my father’s fingers when he covered our hands in his. Then he looked over at the Pack.
“Lana is now Adam’s mate. She is a member of our Pack. Together we are family. In her womb is our future. Protect her.” He closed his eyes tight and his hands slid free of ours.
“No,” I growled, as I pulled his broad shoulders onto my lap. Shoulders that used to carry me when my Mom was still alive. “We need you. You have to fight.”