by Lisa Kessler
“Sick.”
“Insane” would’ve been my word, but she’d shared enough that I didn’t think this was all an elaborate trap anymore.
I just needed an idea.
The only thing I knew for sure was I wasn’t going to let them kill her.
She crossed her arms. “So I guess biting people during the full moon isn’t how you do it in Reno?”
“No, that’s not how we fucking do it.” My shoulders bunched with tension. I tipped my head a little. “Sorry. I’m just…” I struggled for words. “I’ve never heard of a Pack doing this. If humans find out shifters are real, then we’re all in danger, Nero included.”
Raven shrugged. “No one outside the Pack knows we exist.”
“How? How do you bite humans and no one finds out?” I turned her way for a second. “You told your sister and then bit her. You can’t be the only one in your Pack who turned a loved one.”
“Changing Isabelle without Caldwell’s approval should have gotten me killed, but he has plans for me, so instead I’ve been tied to his watchdogs.” She shuddered, and my gut twisted with rage. “Sucks, but it’s better than being dead.”
A growl rumbled deep in my chest. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why change a female if she’s not a mate for someone in the Pack? It’s a huge risk for no reason.”
“They want another generation of male wolves.” She paused, slowing her speech. “You don’t have to be married to get pregnant.”
“You don’t understand.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “Marriage and mates are two very different things. You could marry anyone. Do you even know what a mate is?”
“As far as I know, it’s the raging assholes your Alpha assigns to your bed. They’re your mates.”
I shook my head, aching to beat the shit out of Caldwell, and I hadn’t even met him yet. “Fate chooses your mate, not your Alpha. Wolves mate for life, and it’s the same for werewolves. When you touch your mate’s skin, the wolf inside you will recognize her. A werewolf treasures her as the other half of his soul. She’s only bitten and changed if she wants to have his children.”
She laughed, but there wasn’t any joy in it. “That’s a romantic fairy tale, but it’s not what’s happening in Sedona. The werewolves I know do whatever their Alpha commands. I’ve been mated to two brothers who are in a race to see who can get me pregnant first. I can’t go to the police ranting about werewolves or I’ll be locked in a loony bin until I shift there. Then I’d be transferred to some secret government facility someplace for experiments, like a lab rat.”
She was probably right. My head was spinning. I started to slow down. Her van was right around the next corner… It was gone.
“Oh, shit.” Raven gasped. “Keep driving.” She slid lower in the seat. “Caldwell has a sixth sense when it comes to finding the wolves in his Pack. I must not have gotten far enough away. There’s nowhere I can hide.”
I gave the Mustang more gas, and she roared in answer, eating up the road. “You can stay at my place tonight. I’ll call my Alpha and we’ll make a plan.”
She shook her head, frantic. “It’ll lead him right to you.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said I was well armed.” I didn’t mention that if Caldwell brought an entire Pack against me, I’d never stand a chance.
“No.” She straightened up in her seat again, her jaw set. “You should get out of Sedona while you can. Warn your Alpha. Your mate is probably worried about you anyway.”
I shook my head, clenching my teeth. “I’m the only one in my Pack without a mate. That’s another reason why I took the job in Sedona.” I held up my hand before she could say anything. “Before you start feeling sorry for me, it’s not for a lack of trying.”
She laughed, the sound warming me all over. “Well, when you find her, tell her I said she’s a lucky lady.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I can’t leave you here to get hunted and killed any more than I can pretend this insanity in your Pack isn’t happening. You’re right about not going to the police, but you aren’t alone. Not anymore.”
She stared out the passenger window. “I will be when they kill you.”
“They won’t be the first to try. I’m tough to kill.”
Raven fought to stay awake with me for a few hours before succumbing to a fitful night’s sleep on my couch. I stayed alert, watching the door with my gun in my hand. I should’ve called Adam, my Alpha, as soon as we got back, but in my gut I knew he’d tell me to stay out of this and…shit…the second Raven first looked up at me on the side of the highway, there was no way I could walk away.
It only got worse when she told me Caldwell was alive and ordering his Pack to bite humans. Judging by her groans and the way she thrashed in her sleep, her experience with this Pack was far from good.
As the sun came up, the tension in my shoulders eased a bit. Maybe she misjudged how powerful Caldwell’s Alpha senses really were. I’d only known two Alphas in my life, Adam and his father, Malcolm, and each of them seemed to have their own powers when it came to their Pack. Adam had a knack for sensing when we were agitated or in danger, and his father could sense a lie before it ever left our lips.
Raven seemed to think Caldwell could find them anywhere, but he hadn’t come for her yet.
But they’d found her van.
I shook it off. We still didn’t know if it was her Pack. The highway patrol could have stumbled across it and decided it was a road hazard and called a tow. For now, we were safe. They either didn’t know where she was or they’d have to wait for nightfall to make a grab for her without humans watching.
Stretching, I stood and went into my bedroom to brush my teeth and drag a comb through my hair. My day started early at Valley Farms. The ranch hands fed the horses at six a.m. every day, and by seven thirty I took the first one out of his stall.
I brought out a comforter and covered Raven. She gasped, wide-awake and on the defensive.
Holding my hands up, I took a step back. “Just thought you might want a blanket.”
She relaxed against the couch and sighed, running a hand down her face. “Sorry. I wasn’t always this jumpy.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to apologize. I’ve got some work to do, but make yourself at home—sleep, eat, whatever you need. I’ll be back up soon.”
A crease lined her forehead. “Keeping me here is like signing your death certificate.”
“I’m not keeping you. I’m letting you stay. And for the record, I don’t plan on having a death certificate for a long time.”
I didn’t tell her an idea was forming in my head. It was too crazy to speak out loud. I wanted to bounce it off Adam first. He wouldn’t like it, but he’d tell me if it had any chance of working.
Before she could argue any more, I opened the door. The cold wind stung my face. “I’ll be at the barn if you need me.”
I walked down the path from my trainer’s quarters to the stable. With ten horses that needed training, plus riding lessons in the afternoon, there was plenty to distract me from the trouble brewing on the horizon.
Since I’d been in Sedona, I’d lain low, sticking to the ranch and getting a feel for the work. This was my first head trainer position. I didn’t want to screw it up.
Even so, there had been scents of other werewolves on the wind, and a random jaguar shifter a couple of times, too. For now, I had stayed under the radar.
My move to Sedona hadn’t just been to take the job as head trainer at Valley Farms. Sedona was a place of interest for my Pack back home in Reno. A Nero assassin had died with the word on his lips. Now that the rest of my Pack had mates and some had children, I was the last single pack member standing. It made me the best choice to scout out Sedona.
I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to get out on my own. Seeing my Pack happy with their mates was a constant reminder that I might never find mine.
So far, all I’d managed to find was Raven on the side of the highway.
I jumped off Eclipse’s back and took him to the cross ties. The groom had the halter ready and finished with the horse while I walked over to the other ties, where Sabrina was already saddled and waiting. The three-year-old Morgan mare was a buckskin, a striking sand color with a black mane and tail. Rare for the breed.
I bridled her up and lifted the reins over her head. She nuzzled my chest until a smile tugged at my lips. “Good to see you, too, sweetheart.”
The groom held her while I got into the saddle. “Thanks, I got her.”
He stepped back, and I headed for the arena. She was a solid mare despite her young age. Nothing spooked her, and she was eager to please. One cluck of my tongue and she broke into an even-paced trot.
Since I’d been at the stable, Sabrina had made the most progress. I tried to work her last every day so I could end on a high note. She had the potential to sweep her three-year-old English pleasure division when show season came around in the spring.
As a new head trainer, every win was like a recommendation letter for future clients.
“She’s looking great, Luke.”
I glanced at the rail. Gabby Parks, the only daughter of Sue and John, who owned the ranch, grinned at me. She was eighteen and just starting Yavapai College here in town. Although she gave me every hint she was interested in being more than just friends, I had no intention of crossing the line with my boss’s daughter.
Not to mention she wasn’t my mate.
My mate was still out there. Somewhere. I was losing hope I would ever find her.
I shoved the thoughts aside. Picking at them just led to bitterness, and so far, my day hadn’t been too bad considering I was harboring a fugitive from a rival Pack.
“Thanks, Gabby.” I reversed direction and stopped when we reached her. “I thought you had classes today.”
She stroked Sabrina’s muzzle and smiled up at me. “My last class was canceled.”
I scratched the mare just in front of the saddle. “Want to hop up and take her around the ring a few times?”
Gabby grinned. “Sure.”
She came inside the arena, and I kicked my leg over, dropping to the ground. I grabbed the reins near the bit to hold the mare steady as Gabby walked around me.
“Could you give me a leg up?” She bent her left one at the knee.
I took her ankle and supported her knee with the other hand. Giving her a boost into the saddle was how I first discovered she wasn’t my mate.
We’d touched skin to skin that day, but the wolf inside me stayed quiet. According to my brother, when I touched my mate’s skin, the world would tilt. The wolf would recognize her.
And with Gabby, just like every other woman I’d ever met…nothing.
She cued the mare into a trot as I walked to the center. Back at the ranch in Reno, Adam gave all the riding lessons, but I paid attention. And when I got the job here, helping riders came to me like second nature. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
After work, I took refuge in the tack room and finally called my Alpha. Adam needed to know what I had planned. If this was all a trap, I’d do my best not to get caught in it, but if I failed, Adam would be my only hope of getting out.
“Hey, Adam, it’s Luke.”
“How’s Arizona treating you?” Hearing my Alpha’s voice had a profound effect on the wolf inside me. I didn’t realize how close my wolf was to the surface. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one shaken by the new surroundings without my Pack watching my back.
“Allen Caldwell is in Sedona. He’s the Alpha of the Pack here.”
Adam didn’t say anything, but with my enhanced hearing I had no trouble catching the thumps of his boots as he started pacing. He sighed. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you’ve got to come home. Now.”
I clasped the back of my neck. He was right. If Caldwell discovered me, he’d have leverage against my Pack in Reno. Against my father.
But there was a woman hiding in my cottage who had been bitten against her will. She couldn’t go to the human authorities without outing us all. I was all she had, and damn it, I couldn’t walk away. “I can’t. Not yet.”
The pacing on the other end of the line stopped. “It wasn’t a request, Luke.”
My wolf responded to the command in my Alpha’s voice, but the human side of me couldn’t turn my back on Raven.
Adam wouldn’t leave her behind, either, if he were in my shoes.
“What if Caldwell is still working with Nero? We heard the jaguar assassins talk about Sedona. It was Damian’s last word when he died. It can’t be a coincidence. It’s connected.”
“All the more reason for you to come back to Reno. We can’t protect you when you’re in another state, in another Pack’s territory.”
“They don’t know I’m here yet.” I took a breath and dropped my plan. “I think I have a way in. I can get more information on what they’re planning.” I pressed my lips together, forcing myself to pause before adding, “This Pack is really twisted, and they probably outnumber us. Big-time.”
“Fuck. Luke, get your ass home. Now.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I took this job for a reason. Let me see what I can find out. If Caldwell is still working with Nero, this could be our chance to figure out their next move. You’re expecting retaliation for Damian’s death. We know Sedona has something to do with it. Maybe Caldwell is the key.”
“Shit.” The pacing picked up again. “I don’t like this.”
“You don’t have to like it, but I’m being careful, and I’ll keep you informed every step of the way.”
Silence. Finally, Adam’s voice rumbled in my ear. “Come home. I’m not asking.”
I fought off the Alpha command in his voice. “I’m not a kid anymore, and I’m not leaving. Not until I have something that can help us.”
“I’m sending you backup.”
“You don’t have anyone to spare.”
“Get the intel, and then come back to Reno so we can cover you.” He paused, his tone softening. “Getting involved in their Pack won’t make you a hero, Luke—it’ll make you a casualty.”
He hung up, and I stared at my cell. Ever since Adam ascended to the Alpha of my Pack, his sixth sense when it came to each Pack member had grown. He joked about it and called it his spidey sense, but that last warning he gave me left me shaken.
How had he known I was getting involved to help Raven?
Chapter Three
Raven
I had to check in with Isabelle. If the Pack had taken the van last night, they could’ve told her anything. But turning on my cell phone could lead them right to me. Across the room, I spotted Luke’s laptop. He’d told me to use anything I needed.
Opening the lid, I waited to see if I’d need a password. I didn’t. I opened Facebook and logged him out. Once I was signed in, I clicked on Messenger.
Whatever they told you, I’m okay.
The seconds ticked by. As I reached for the mouse to log out, Messenger came to life. She was typing.
Did you make it to Reno?
Not exactly.
The door opened, and I almost jumped out of my skin. Luke held his hand up. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No problem.” I glanced at the screen and back over at him. “Hope you don’t mind. I logged you out of Facebook.”
He shook his head, tugging his gloves off and setting them on the counter. “I don’t mind. Did you contact your sister?”
I nodded, facing the keyboard again. “Yeah. I don’t know how much longer she’ll be on.”
My fingers flew on the keyboard. I found a guy from the Reno Pack, though. Luke Reynolds. We’re working on a plan. Caldwell was the Alpha of his father’s Pack when they were younger. They were sent to Nero and escaped. Started their own Pack in Reno. No love lost.
Messenger blinked as she typed her response. If Luke’s dad was part of Caldwell’s original Pack and got away… If they did it once, then it’s possible. We could do it
again. And Caldwell’s older now.
I sighed, raking my fingers through my hair. But the Sedona Pack probably outnumbers Luke’s with all the rapid growth Caldwell has been doing.
He’d had two more Hopi men bitten during the last full moon. We still weren’t sure if he was going to let them live. The probation month in the Sedona Pack was deadly for males. If they didn’t commit their lives to the man who stole theirs, he’d kill them.
Obedience or death. Those were the choices for newly bitten males and females. I chose not to die, but obedience had never been my strong suit.
I waited for her answer.
We can’t keep living like this.
She was right about that. I worried my lower lip. This isn’t forever. Talk soon.
I logged out with no idea how I could fix this for us, only a burning desire that I would do whatever it took. Until I’d been bitten, I’d had some anger issues, but I’d never wished anyone dead.
Right now I didn’t wish Caldwell dead. I promised myself he would be. Somehow.
Luke was making sandwiches as I closed the laptop. “You hungry?”
My stomach answered for me. Werewolves were almost always hungry. I chuckled. “Apparently, yes, I’m starving.”
He glanced my way with a crooked grin that made my stomach flutter. “Good. Grilled ham and cheese all right?”
I nodded, marveling at how easy it was to be with him. Like we weren’t werewolves on the run.
He put a frying pan on the stove top. “Is your sister okay?”
“For now.” I wandered into the kitchen, keeping a healthy distance from him. Habit. “Is there any chance your Pack will help us? I’ve got to get her out of there.”
It was my fault Isabelle and I were mixed up with the Pack in the first place. After I’d dated the wrong guy and ended up a werewolf, I’d dragged Isabelle into it, too. Biting her had been another mistake. She’d demanded it, but I could’ve refused. The truth was, I wanted my older sister with me. Somehow I’d clung to the hope that together we could do anything. Together we could escape.
But Caldwell always found us.