"Yeah, we're fine." Victoria swung toward him and met his gaze. She got caught up in the warm chocolate-brown of his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart hit a staccato beat. Her involuntary reaction to his physical presence made her uncomfortable. He exhibited the traits of a strong Alpha: authority, confidence, courage, and leadership. She already admired him as a skilled enemy. Further entanglements with an inappropriate male were the last thing she wanted or needed.
He cleared his throat. "What's wrong then?"
"Morena doesn't trust you."
"Better to be feared than loved, I guess." Sawyer almost smiled. His mouth turned up at the corners, and his nostrils flared as his head cocked. A strand of blond bangs fell over his eye.
Her finger twitched, and she quelled the impulse to reach for that irritating piece of hair. She adopted a taunting tone. "What's with all of the hunters, Sawyer? Were you feeling insecure? Is one she-wolf more than you can handle?"
His smile vanished. "My father brought them."
Her mouth went dry. "I see. Should I feel flattered?"
"They're his men, and he's feeling paranoid. I can't say I blame him for being cautious, all things considered." Sawyer offered more information than was requested. From his tone, he wasn't much happier about it than she was.
Victoria shifted her stance, glancing uneasily toward the silent audience of hunters. "You have to understand, I have mixed feelings about just walking into what looks like an obvious trap. If you still want me dead, you should have to work for it."
He scowled. "It isn't a trap."
"Easy for you to say," she said in a distinctly sour tone. Too many competing odors filled the area, and she doubted her ability to catch him in a lie over the stench of cattle.
"I'm not armed." Sawyer held up his hands to make his point.
"No, but everyone else is." She cast a pointed glance toward the hunters.
He sighed, and his head jerked toward the large main building. "Are you gonna come up and talk to my father? He's waiting over by the grain silo."
She stepped nearer to him. The top of her head came to the middle of his chest, but she was close enough to rip out his throat, to feel the warmth radiating off his skin, to scent the rush of his adrenaline, and hear the throb of his heart. Still, she scented no fear from him, only intense excitement. He took hold of her elbow.
She laid one hand on his forearm and stroked her fingertips across the rough hair on the back of his arms. Power spilled from her, creating an electrostatic crackle where they touched.
Gooseflesh rose on his forearms and Sawyer sucked in a sharp breath. He bent to whisper in her ear. "Are you coming onto me? Because I usually hold out until at least the second date."
She rolled her eyes. "Slut."
He smiled, showing teeth. "I'm a guy."
"Ah yes, one of the simple people."
Fire lit his eyes. "You're a tease."
She chuckled. "And you're an easy target."
He stared at her intently. "It's not a trap. You have my word."
She stood on her toes and tugged him down to her. He obliged and bent. Mouth close to his ear, she exhaled so her breath stirred his hair. His jaw worked, and he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing. A tremor traveled the length of his body.
"Say it so I can smell the truth."
"It's not a trap." His heart rate, respiration, and scent remained constant, indicating he spoke the truth. No human, no matter how skilled a liar, could have deceived her without some minor fluctuation in physical response betraying them. There were too many tells.
She believed him. Common sense told her to release him, to end the ridiculous, reckless flirtation. But his earthy odor reminded her so much of Daniel, her heart ached. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and get lost in the illusion. To pretend for just a few minutes her lover still lived.
Using him would be wrong. Unfair. With an act of will, she released him and stepped back. "Let's go."
"Right," Sawyer muttered and then headed away with ground eating strides. After a second, Victoria hurried to catch up with Morena on her heels.
"My father's men will maintain a distance of two hundred feet at all times," Sawyer said. "We're meeting in the open yard near the silo."
Still within easy range of a scoped rifle, but there was no point in arguing. The concession was the best deal she'd get. Swallowing an instinctive protest, she asked, "You'll be present?"
"Yeah, I'll be there." The tightness in Sawyer's voice served to ratchet up the tension instead of alleviating it.
Walking together in a loose group, they approached the towering grain silo and the adjacent open area. A wooden pen packed full of cattle bordered the pathway which led to an industrial barn. The odor of cow manure and the buzz of flies hung over the entire area.
"It stinks," Morena complained. "I'm going to puke."
"Don't," Victoria said. "If you can't handle the smell, then please go wait by the cars."
Grumbling, Morena stuck with her Alpha.
As they neared, the cattle grew restless, perhaps detecting the wolves in their midst. The herd brayed, creating a noisy din. The heavy animals stomped about within their enclosures, colliding with the fences so hard the wood groaned.
The imposing figure of Jake Barrett waited in the silo's shade.
Standing with one boot propped on the lowest ladder rung, he cradled a double-barreled rifle with a black walnut stock in his arms. The older man bore a marked resemblance to his son. The Arizona sun had weathered his skin to tanned leather. His short hair and scruffy beard were salt-and-pepper. His broad shoulders and powerful arms matched the rest of his stout build.
The Hunter King. Master of the Hunt. He had many nicknames, not all of them polite.
Across the yard, the man pinned her with his penetrating stare, and a shadow fell over her soul. Rumors purported him to be invincible. He suffered fatal injuries but didn't die. Victoria's mother once said Jake Barrett must be blessed or cursed by the gods. Either way, men pledged their undying loyalty to him. Monsters feared him. To underestimate him meant certain death.
The sight of her sworn enemy made her stop in her tracks. A low growl trembled in her throat. Conflicting emotions ripped through her—anger, hatred, and hurt. So many people were dead because of him. Just a few months ago, she'd sworn to kill the man. Her most soulful desire involved ripping open his ribcage with her bare claws and tearing out his still beating heart.
"Victoria." Jake dropped his foot to the ground and shouldered his rifle with its carrying strap.
"Barrett." Victoria choked on the growl and struggled to achieve an even tone. Behind her, Morena produced a faint whimper and crowded closer to her Alpha.
"I wasn't expecting you to show." His stance remained relaxed but alert. He radiated supreme confidence, power so potent his aura presented as a slate gray wall.
"I almost didn't," Victoria said with an uneasy glance at Sawyer. He stood beside her, not touching, but close enough that she took a measure of comfort from his presence. If for no other reason, he could serve as a convenient shield.
An unsettled expression crossed Jake's countenance. His clear eyes saw far too much. "You look good. You've got a glow about you."
"Thanks." Victoria aborted a reflexive gesture to cross protective arms over her stomach. Death did not scare her. Jake Barrett terrified her. Abruptly, she realized the extent of her arrogance, having placed her unborn child in danger.
Brittle silence descended. She stared into Jake's implacable face, trying to discern any hint of the man's disposition. His impenetrable guise gave away nothing, and she refused to show weakness by making the first move.
"Fuck," Sawyer muttered. He paced closer to his father, restless and abrupt. "Damn it, Dad. I didn't drag the two of you out here to have a staring contest."
Jake's brow knit, and he glanced at his son. "Since you're always so quick to ask first, shoot later, where do you suggest we start, Son?"
Flushing, Sawyer's mouth dropped open, and he looked like he'd just swallowed a wasp.
Despite the dire circumstances, Victoria choked on a chuckle. Sawyer's ability to provoke an incendiary reaction from his father struck her as incredibly funny. Fathers and sons. Mothers and daughters. Apparently, some things were common to all families.
"Let's start with the dead," Victoria said. "It's why we're here."
Both hunters turned to her.
"Victoria," Morena whispered, tugging at her Alpha's shirt.
Frowning, Victoria waved her hand behind her back to shush the girl.
An indefinable glimmer shone in Jake's eyes. "Fair enough. My boy is dead, and you're the only one with the answers."
Victoria's lips curled in a silent snarl. "I could say the same. Jasper was only fifteen years old. You took him hostage and murdered him. You're a monster, Jake Barrett."
Sawyer flinched, and his shoulders slumped. His reaction aroused her curiosity, but Victoria didn't dare divert her attention from Jake.
A flush stained Jake's throat and crept toward his face. "I didn't mean that boy harm. I realized too damn late the mistake I'd made in nabbing him."
"Is that how you apologize for a dead child?" Victoria snapped her jaws together, gnashing her teeth in anger.
"I'm sorry about the boy." Unflinching, Jake held her gaze. "I shouldn't have taken him. I only wanted the truth about how Daniel died, and it was the only sure way of gaining your cooperation."
She thought his words rang true. Her face twisted as she fought the sting of a guilty conscience and a broken heart. Dredging up the past made her relive the excruciating loss, but some truths needed to be spoken. "I wanted to tell you in Albuquerque. All you had to do was ask. Instead, you took a boy hostage, and his death is on you."
Jake took an aggressive step. His tone contained sharp accusation. "Let's not forget my son is dead."
Grief suffused her, threatening her ragged composure. A hand closed on her throat, and her heart ached in her breast. For Jasper, for Rand, for Daniel, for Arik, for everyone else she loved and lost.
"True enough," Victoria said. "Daniel's death is on me."
"You freely admit it." His hands flexed. He looked angry enough to kill her where she stood. The set of the hunter's head and shoulders brought to mind a gun-slinging outlaw from the Old West. Her imagination supplied a missing cowboy hat and dusty leather chaps.
Behind Victoria, Morena quivered. The teen's voice hissed in her ear. "Victoria!"
Victoria reached behind her and caught Morena's hands in her own. She held tight to her Omega, willing the girl to be quiet through the pack bond. "Yes, I freely admit it. I blame myself for failing to save Daniel. I blame you for failing to protect Jasper when you should have."
"It sounds like there's no shortage of blame to go around." Jake's tone contained bitter finality. "I want to know how my son died."
Victoria's blood ran cold. Jake Barrett had said the exact same thing to her, word for word, in Albuquerque when he'd taken Jasper hostage. For the first time, she realized the demand wasn't an accusation of murder. Suddenly, the conflict took on a whole new light, including connotations she'd never considered before.
She stared at him. "You knew Daniel and I were seeing each other."
Eyes narrowed, he shook his head. "I suspected Daniel had a girl. He was disappearing over weekends, refusing to talk about where he was spending his time. He was a grown man, so I stayed out of his business. But no, I didn't know it was you."
Victoria bristled. "We were keeping our affair a secret but not from my parents or my pack. They knew I was dating a hunter. No, we had to be sneaky lest the vaunted Jake Barrett find out his son was dating a she-wolf."
The Hunter King imposed a strict mandate on his people—no socializing with the Storm Pack outside business. As allies, they hunted together, fought side by side in defense of their overlapping territory, but fraternization was forbidden. There were no BBQs, no holiday picnics, and absolutely no dating. That was until Victoria and Daniel had broken all of the rules.
Jake scowled, and his voice grated like gravel. "Is it true a vampire murdered Daniel?"
"Yes." Victoria's shoulders slumped, and her heart ached with the bitterness of her failure to protect her lover. "We went after a vamp nest. We thought we'd killed all of them, but there was one hiding. He attacked Daniel and then ran."
"Was my son bitten?"
The question cut Victoria to the quick. She blinked, fighting to suppress the hot tears which threatened to drown her. The crushing pressure on her chest increased until she wanted to scream. "Yes. His throat wasn't just torn. It was gone. Given a lesser injury or the help of my pack, I might've healed him."
"Sawyer said you were covered head to toe in dried blood when you brought his body home," Jake said in a gentle voice that scared her worse than any angry outburst.
"Victoria!" Morena hissed.
Victoria winched and ignored the girl. Later, she would have strong words with Morena about inappropriate interruptions, but for the moment, the man before her demanded her undivided attention. She met his steely gaze even as her stomach roiled. "Daniel died in my arms."
"Why did you decapitate my son's corpse, Victoria? Why were there claw marks on his throat and chest?" Jake's mouth curled around a snarl, and at last, his deadly predatory nature peered past the facade. "You mutilated Daniel's body. It's no wonder Sawyer tried to kill you."
Anger ripped through Victoria, and she bared her teeth, allowing her wolf to surface so golden light spilled from her eyes. "You know why!"
"Say it," Jake demanded. "I want to hear the words."
"Dad, take it easy," Sawyer interrupted, but his warning went unheeded.
Victoria shot forward and grabbed the front of Jake's shirt, hauling him to her. She roared in his face. "He turned. I tried to heal him and failed. After his heart stopped, I sat there holding him, rocking, praying."
Jake's big hands seized her shoulders, and his strong fingers dug in with a punishing force. His furious gaze contained hatred and accusation. "You failed my son twice. You didn't have his back during a hunt. Then you allowed him to rise as one of them."
In the face of his condemnation, Victoria flinched and released her grip on his shirt. Her anger wilted, and her guilt rose. "Yes, that's true. I should have used a machete to remove his head, but I waited too long. He rose as a vampire and went for my throat. I had to use my claws to behead him."
The gruesome memory of ripping apart her lover's corpse with her bare hands filled her mind, eclipsing all else. Her gorge rose, threatening to spew the contents of her stomach. Jake must have seen the nausea, because he released her shoulders and took a hasty step back. The rasp of heavy breathing filled the air. They stood across from each other, panting hard, unsure of what came next.
Eventually, Victoria released a shaky breath. "It happened because I loved him too much, not because I was careless. I realized my failure. I brought Daniel's body home. I intended to explain, but Sawyer started shooting, and I had no choice but to run."
Jake exhaled with a long, low hiss. His shoulders slumped in an expression of defeat difficult to look upon in such a fierce man. "Sawyer was in the grip of a blind rage following his brother's death. There was no reasoning with him..." He shook his head. "I thought there had to be a credible explanation for what had happened, but then the explosions went off at the airfield, and everything spiraled out of control—"
Victoria blinked. "Explosions? There was more than one?"
Shouting, Morena cut through their discussion. "Does anyone smell that? I mean, aside from the cow shit?"
Victoria swung on her Omega. "Smell what?"
Morena took a quick, startled step back. "Bitter. Like almonds. Maybe it's cyanide?"
"Shit." Sawyer's bellow contained fear and urgency. "There's a bomb."
Victoria spun to the hunter in time to catch the concerned exchange between father and son. Just the sight of alarm on
Jake's face sent her pulse skyrocketing as adrenaline surged through her body.
"Clear the area!" Sawyer shouted, waving his arm toward the other hunters who immediately acted on his orders. He lurched into a sprint, heading toward the parking lot.
"Run!" Lunging, Victoria smacked the middle of Morena's back. Her strength of will enforced the command through the pack bond.
The long-legged teenager bolted. In a heartbeat, she passed Sawyer and reached the edge of the parking lot.
Victoria hesitated. Her head twisted as she glanced toward Jake. He stood close to the silo, as still and calm as the eye of the storm. His hand pressed against his chest, covered his heart.
Glassy eyes. Parted lips.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Everything about him screamed wrongness. Right down to his absolute stillness. Her gaze locked on his chest. Then she noticed the blossom of red staining his shirt.
He staggered backward and collided with the silo.
She hadn't heard a gunshot, but her gut said Jake Barrett had been shot. Victoria ducked her head in case the sniper fired on another target. Her sense of self-preservation clashed with her instinct to protect those weaker than herself.
The earth shook, and the sky caught fire.
A fireball burst through the side of the silo at the base. A burning plume of flame exploded outward, licking at Victoria's head. She threw up her arms to protect her face. The blistering heat seared her skin and stung her eyes, and she inhaled thick, black smoke. A coughing fit convulsed her lungs. The boom blasted her eardrums. She threw herself to the ground and landed face down in the dirt.
The air burned.
As swiftly as the blaze expanded, the broad swath of flame retreated into the main body. A thick column of dark smoke rose into the sky. The flaming tower cast an orange-red glow beneath the afternoon sun.
Victoria turned onto her side. She blinked while her vision cleared. No second explosion followed. Her accelerated healing kicked in, and the ringing in her ears receded so she could hear more than the roar of the conflagration.
From nearby corrals, the air rang with the bellows of wounded cattle and the stamping of hooves hammering the ground. Fences groaned as the massive beasts collided with railings. Farther away, men shouted indistinct words to one another.
Battle Cry (Loki's Wolves Book 2) Page 11