by Alisa Woods
Once they were in the kitchen, Troy pulled her close. “Holy shit, the mayor,” he whispered.
Zoe was shaking her head. “My brain is still catching up. But if Mama River can get him to stay, that’s a good thing.”
He frowned at her. “Because he’s your grandfather?”
“Because he’s the white wolf.”
Troy’s eyes went a little wide, but she wasn’t after her grandfather’s magic to find the Wolf Hunter, which was no doubt what Troy was thinking. Although that would have to happen first—she had promised him she wouldn’t destroy her white wolf before they had destroyed the Wolf Hunter himself, and she would keep that promise. But now that she had her grandfather and his DNA, her dream of creating the serum what would eliminate her wolf altogether—it was at least possible. With her grandfather’s help.
As soon as Mama River was done convincing him to stay, Zoe would make her demands known.
Troy was back in bed with Zoe.
Not that he was complaining, but that didn’t mean he could sleep.
It was sometime after midnight, as close as he could tell without actually looking at his phone, which was buried somewhere in his pants on the floor on the other side of the room. They were in his bedroom this time, and their lovemaking had slowed down a little—this was the first time they had woken up since gorging on Mama River’s leftovers and crashing. They had just made love and were now drifting back to sleep… at least Zoe was. Troy was worried about where this was going, but he was trapped by the silence that had fallen between them.
Mama River and the mayor had disappeared, but Troy could only assume they were off somewhere in the estate, cementing their love, the way Troy and Zoe had been all day yesterday. He didn’t begrudge them that, although he was a whole lot less certain about trusting the mayor, even if the man was apparently family now. Mama River’s heart was big enough to take in anyone—and that was keeping Troy up at night, watching the moonlight drift across the room and light up Zoe’s beautiful face on the pillow next to him.
She had been eager to keep the mayor around as well. And that concerned him, too. In spite of the man’s confession and obvious contrition, Troy knew old habits died hard. As far as he could tell, the mayor—this white wolf Zoe had been looking for—had made a serious habit of running away from his problems and obligations. The protective side of Troy’s wolf surged up at the thought that he might, through some action or inaction, hurt Zoe.
The man was an unknown quantity, and Troy like that least of all.
Zoe made a cute little sound of contentment next to him as she rolled over to face him, sliding her hand across his bare chest. In the darkness, he could see a small trace of the blue fire that arced between her fingertips and his skin, like a static charge that, instead of being painful, brought the most delicious pleasure. If she kept that up, he’d be ready for more no time.
Troy cuddled her to him, and that small motion had her blinking open her eyes and peering up at him.
She frowned when she found him wide awake. “Everything okay?”
He ran his hand along her shoulder, loving the soft feel of it. “Just worried about you.”
“Why?” She sat up a little more.
“I don’t like having your grandfather here,” he confessed. “I’ve seen better examples of fatherhood in the gangs I hung out with downtown.”
Her frown grew darker. “I know. But he’s key to my research. I need him to stick around, at least for a little while.”
Great. That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear. “This is that serum you were talking about, isn’t it?” He couldn’t keep the disapproval out of his voice.
She eased back from him, and he hated that distance already. “Yes,” she said, a little sharpness in her voice. “But it’s also key to finding a serum that can make a huge difference for wolves and humans both.”
Troy frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You know that superhealing thing that I have? That all the white wolves have?”
Troy nodded. If he hadn’t seen it in action, he wasn’t sure he would believe it was real.
“With the database of information I have from the shifter experiments, I’m working on developing a serum that will distil down those super healing powers into something that could be used for any kind of healing.”
“No shit, really?”
She smirked. “We might put you rescue type people out of business if we can heal everyone.”
Troy’s eyes went wide. “Well, if your grandfather can help with that… I guess that’s worth putting up with the old man for a while.” Not that he would drop his suspicions about him.
Zoe eased closer again. “And you saw the way Mama River was with him.”
Troy cringed. “Yeah, but I think Mama River’s heart might be just a little too big for her own good.”
She smacked his chest lightly. “Don’t be all judgmental about who someone falls in love with.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips for a quick kiss. “I’ll be as judgmental as I like about guys who are assholes.” He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “Although I get that part of his story, at least. If anyone hurt the woman I loved, I’d be hard-pressed not to go into a homicidal rage. Just for future reference.”
Zoe smiled. “So you would protect me from the bad guys? I thought we were just having sex here, not falling in love.” But the way she said it made Troy’s heart leap. Because that was exactly what he was saying… and maybe she was feeling it, too.
He growled possessively and pinned her back on the bed. “We are definitely having sex. Lots of sex. And we’re going to keep having lots and lots of sex until you realize how devastatingly irresistible I am and how you could never live without me.”
She laughed, and that sound went straight to his soul, just like it always did. He dove into claiming her mouth with his, but then a loud bang startled them both.
“What the hell—” Troy rolled away from Zoe and leaped out of the bed. He ran to the window and gaped at what he saw outside—there were at least a dozen heavily armed men in black tactical gear in front of the River estate.
“What is it?” Zoe asked scrambling to pull her clothes out of the pile on the floor. She slipped her T-shirt over her head and was reaching for jeans.
“Something’s going down.” Panic squeezed Troy’s chest for a moment, then his body went into emergency mode as his training kicked in. He dashed to Zoe’s side, leaving the room light off—he didn’t want to alert the men outside. He grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled them on, speaking quickly as he buttoned. “There are at least a dozen armed men outside. They might be here for you. Sit tight. Don’t move.” He jabbed a finger at her to let her know he was serious. “I’m going to grab some of the other wolves, go around the back, see if we can—”
“No way in hell am I staying here,” she growled, then sprinted to the window. “Holy shit!” She whipped her head back to him. “They’ve got Mama River!”
Fuck. Troy stopped messing with his pants and ran for the door. He threw it open and sprinted down the hall. He barreled ahead, only barely noticing the light footfalls trailing him. Zoe was behind him. Shit. But he had no time to waste arguing. He reached the top of the stairs at the front and realized his mistake—the men were already inside.
The one guarding the door swung his rifle up to point at Troy. He stumbled back from the edge, hooking his arm around Zoe’s waist and throwing her back down the hall. Several shots rang out, but none landed in him. He scrambled to haul Zoe further away, retreating from the top of the stairs.
“Are you all right?” he asked in a hoarse whisper. She was fighting him, as he tried to drag her further. “Zoe, come on! They’ve got guns! We have to go around back.”
“They’ve got Mama River,” she ground out, then broke free. She sprinted toward the stairs, and it was like Troy’s heart had wrenched out of his body.
He stumbled after her, but sh
e was already raising her hands and blue fire was gathering in her palms. At the edge of the stairs, she spread her arms, and a blue field snapped into place around her. Shots rang out again, but she just pounded down the steps in her bare feet, her t-shirt dancing around her hips, barely covering her. The blue shield went with her, and new fireballs formed in her hands. The men in tactical gear were scrambling to get away from her, fleeing like rats out the front door. She launched a fireball through the open door after them, and a blue flash bounced back through the darkened windows of the great room.
Jesus Christ. She had them on the run.
Troy pounded down the stairs after her, praying her shield would hold and keep her safe. When he got outside, one of the vans was already pulling away, and the attackers were scrambling to get aboard the other two vans. Zoe lobbed another ball of blue fire directly at the closest van. The blue energy skittered all over the surface, then exploded, blowing out the windows. Troy automatically covered his face from the flying glass. Zoe was closer, but the shield was protecting her. Two of the thugs had fallen to the ground. Then the second van started to move. The back door wasn’t shut, and a man with dark hair leaned out, his face lit up with a bluish glow from an orb of crackling fire in his palm.
He launched it at Zoe.
“Look out!” Troy dove for her, throwing his body against Zoe’s shield. It burned and sizzled against his skin, but they were both thrown back by the blast of energy crashing into her. Troy landed flat on his back. Zoe’s shield collapsed and dumped her on top of him. The energy from the blue fireball splashed against them—everywhere it hit Troy burned like hell. He groaned with the pain of it, but Zoe had taken it face-on—that was what killed her shield.
“Oh my God, oh my God, Zoe.” He was mumbling incoherently. She was limp against him, dead weight on top of him. His heart wrenched as he scrambled to delicately move her to the charred black dirt next to him. The front half of her shirt had been burned away, and her skin was black and charred as well.
“Oh my God, no.” His hands trembled. He didn’t know what to do. She was still knocked out, and he was terrified of touching her and causing more pain.
Then, before his eyes, the charred part of her skin started to slough off. He was gasping for breath, but he willed the panic seizing his brain to calm. Her amazing body was healing itself, just like before—only this time it wasn’t an incendiary blast or any conventional firebomb. This was magical fire. But her body was casting off the parts that had been flash burned and regenerating anew all the same. He rocked back on his heels and gaped.
Then he pressed a finger to her neck, checking for a pulse. Her strong, steady beat, calmed the panic in his brain, and he could see the rise and fall of her now-bare chest. After a moment, her eyelids fluttered open.
He pulled her up into his arms. “God, Zoe, I was so afraid…” He stopped and swallowed down his words. He didn’t need to tell her that. She didn’t need to hear it, not now.
She struggled up to sitting, as if she hadn’t been a half-charred wreck just a moment before. “Where did they go?” Her voice hitched up as her gaze scanned the two thugs on the ground, wiped out by her magical fire. The remaining attackers had escaped in the other two vans.
Only then did they hear a quiet moan from another fallen figure near the porch. The figure’s face was shadowed by the moon, but when it lifted its head in their direction, Troy could see who it was.
“It’s Mama River!” he said quickly.
“Go to her!” Zoe said, already scrambling to stand up on her own.
Reluctantly, Troy left her side and hurried over to the older woman. He knelt down to help her as she struggled up to sitting. “Are you injured?”
She shook her head, then stopped and held it. “One of them hit me, but just knocked me down. I’m not as sprightly as I used to be.” She gathered her torn nightgown around her—it had obviously been ripped in the struggle.
Troy wanted to check her over, but it was too dark to see well. “Where did they hit you?” He had to force the words through the growl in his throat—who the fuck would hit an old woman? But he really didn’t have to ask that question. He knew these were the Wolf Hunter’s men.
Mama River patted his hand, then grabbed hold of his arm to brace herself as she stood. “I’m fine, I promise.”
Zoe hurried over to them and grasped hold of Mama River’s other arm. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Mama River scowled. “Yes, but did you stop them, Zoe? They were taking the mayor…” She glanced at the one charred van that remained and the figures on the ground, but it was clear that neither one of them were the mayor.
“They took the mayor?” Zoe’s mouth was hanging open.
Mama River was distraught. “I tried to stop them. They broke into my bedroom. We were asleep, but somehow they knew right where to find him. They hauled him out of bed and dragged him toward the front. I tried to go after them, but then they just grabbed hold of me. Bobby tried to fight them, but they shot him with something that knocked him out before they even left the bedroom.”
Suddenly, people started streaming out of the River estate front door, half wolves and half human, charging into the scene—but the fight was already over.
Troy was relieved to see Daniel among them—he could organize the pack to go after the attackers. “The Wolf Hunter’s men just fled in two white vans. If you go now, you might be able to stop them. They’ve taken the mayor.”
“Roger that,” Daniel said then ran off, barking commands at several of the other wolves.
Troy turned back to Zoe and Mama River. “I don’t know if they’ll have any luck—the vans have a good head start.”
Zoe was busy running her hands through her even shorter hair, charred and turned up at the edges by the latest fire attack. It made Troy sick inside to watch, but it was the least of her concerns at the moment.
“They were after something,” she muttered. “Why would they kidnap the mayor?”
Troy just spread his hands—he had no clue. “How did they even know he was here?”
“Exactly.” Zoe scowled. “And who the hell was that guy throwing blue fireballs out the back of the van?”
“That was the Wolf Hunter,” Mama River said quietly.
They both turned to her. “How do you know that?” Zoe asked, eyes wide.
Mama River’s lips were pressed into a tight line. “Just before they took him, Bobby said, ‘It’s you.’ He recognized him. If he’s using magic, there’s only one person that could be.”
Shit. Did that mean—
But Zoe beat him to it. “Because the Wolf Hunter is a white wolf.” She pointed a finger at Mama River like she was just figuring it out. “And now he’s tapped into his magic. Holy shit.” She went back to running her hands through her hair.
“So… is that how he found the mayor?” Troy didn’t know how half this stuff worked.
“It has to be the magical signature the mayor was worried about,” Zoe said. “If the Wolf Hunter is using magic now, maybe he found a way to track the mayor. Remember how my grandfather said he hadn’t used magic for the last twenty years and that he was afraid to? He was afraid the Wolf Hunter would find him.”
Troy didn’t miss that she had referred to the mayor as her grandfather. “But he didn’t use his magic… did he?” He directed that question to Mama River.
She shook her head, but Zoe said, “Of course, he did.” She snapped her fingers then shook one at Troy. “He shifted.”
Troy grimaced. Of course, that was magic, too—just not the kind he normally associated with white wolves. “What was he thinking?”
Zoe shook her head. “He probably didn’t plan on sticking around.” But she was still thinking, rubbing her chin with her hand. “Okay. So the Wolf Hunter used magic to track the mayor’s magic. Which means, he has to know the mayor is a white wolf.”
Troy frowned, not seeing her point. “The Wolf Hunter’s been after his father, a white wolf, all
this time, right? I mean, he’s obsessed with finding him and getting revenge for… whatever the hell his problem is.”
“So why not just kill him?” Zoe asked like she knew the answer already.
“Because the man enjoys a good torture session?” Troy winced as he caught the look on Mama’s River’s face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
She waved him off, but her face was a picture of concern.
“Maybe,” Zoe said. “Or maybe he needs his father for something else… the same thing I need him for.”
That hiked up Mama River’s eyebrows.
“We don’t have just one man’s life at stake here,” Zoe explained to her and to Troy. “I’m pretty sure the Wolf Hunter has the same database I do. The same tools. And…” She ran her hands through her hair again, obviously thinking it through. “And he’s been taking blood samples all along. Now that he has the progenitor white wolf, he has the one missing piece—the piece I was missing as well… shit.” She smacked both palms to her forehead. “Why didn’t I see this before?”
“See what?” Troy was still literally in the dark.
Zoe flung out her hands, but they were clenched into fists. “Now the Wolf Hunter can do exactly what I’ve been trying to do—make a superhealing serum. Or he could make a serum that would eliminate all traces of the magic inside us—the thing that makes us wolf.”
The horrified look on Mama River’s face echoed in the pounding through Troy’s chest.
“He can do that?” Troy almost didn’t want to say it out loud. He knew she was planning on making a serum to kill her own wolf, but he half-way didn’t want to even believe it was possible. But it must be, if she thought the Wolf Hunter might get there first.
“Yes.” Zoe ground the word out. “And with it, he could wipe us all out.”
“Holy fuck,” Troy whispered. “Well, then, we better track him down before he can carry any of that out.”
Zoe nodded rapidly. “Only I have no idea where he’s taking the mayor.”
Troy narrowed his eyes. “I might have an idea how we can find out.”