by Kym Grosso
“Darlin’, I’m the beta of Acadian wolves. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Is she serious? Does she really think I’m going to up and leave her when she has someone chasing her? Dimitri registered the look of disbelief that crossed her face in response to his previous statement, and grinned.
“Let me clarify that statement. Now that you’ve healed my wolf…I can hold my own.”
“Acadian wolves? New Orleans?” she gasped, trying to break free of the cage he’d built with his arms.
“You’d like to test me?” His eyes fell to her mouth, watching her tongue tease over her bottom lip. Kiss her, his wolf demanded. Fuck no, he replied. Reason won out and he quickly averted his gaze. Unfortunately, it fell from her lips to her bosom.
“No, please,” she whispered. Gillian followed his line of vision and parted her lips in expectation. “You have to listen to me. This is no joke.”
“Come now, cher. Let me help you. Don’t fight this. Besides, from the looks of things,” he glanced down to his naked chest, and then met her eyes with a wicked smile, “you’ve had your sweet hands all over me. Cleaned me up real nice. Warmed me in your arms. It’s almost like we’re already dating.”
“We’re not dating. I…I…” Gillian stammered.
“Say yes.” Dimitri leaned forward until his breath warmed her lips, and he fought the temptation. Unfortunately weakness took over and he moved to her ear, his tongue darting out to the hollow behind it. His cock hardened, and he pressed a kiss to her skin.
A knock at the door startled them both. Dimitri briefly turned his head toward the noise.
I’ve lost my mind, Gillian thought. Goddammit. The only reason she’d saved the wolf was out of guilt. The pack had been after her that night, not him. They’d chased her down after she’d escaped. When they’d attacked the stranger, she’d shifted, protecting him from certain death. A healer by nature, she couldn’t tolerate the deliberate infliction of torture on another being. At the time, she’d thought the man on the beach was a human, but by the time she’d gotten him back to the room, her beast had recognized his.
Gillian had used every ounce of her power to heal his wolf. With her skin against his, her hands had explored every hard ridge of his abdomen as she gave of herself. She’d indulged, letting her fingertips trace his tattoos while he’d slept. The man was undeniably hot, and she suspected he could be the kind of man who’d make her want to give into a mating.
Gillian had known her whole life that mating wasn’t in the cards for someone like her. Steadfast in her decision, she refused to sacrifice her own beast for a man. The secrets she kept inside were what had almost gotten her killed when the Alpha of Anzober wolves, Chaz Baldwin, discovered what she could do for him.
She should have known coming to San Diego on a too-good-to-be-true photo shoot was a bad idea. She’d been working in New York City, making a bare bones living as a photographer when she’d been contacted by an agent who was willing to pay her top dollar for a high-end magazine spread. When she’d arrived in the desert to check out the location, she’d been confronted with the cold reality that Chaz had deliberately drawn her into his web.
He’d taken her captive to his beachfront home, all the while promising not to hurt her. Chaz had pressed the issue of a mating, knowing that it was impossible. After three days of living in the Alpha’s gilded cage and a brutal assault, she’d summoned the courage to shift and tore apart her guards. But as she took off down the beach, she hadn’t considered the collateral damage she’d leave in the wake of her escape. Dimitri.
She hadn’t known his full name until he’d told her in bed. When she’d taken his cell phone and called the first three numbers, the men on the other line weren’t forthcoming about his identity, threatening retribution if their friend wasn’t found alive when they arrived. With the knock on the door, she was reminded that not only did she have to fear Chaz; the gorgeous but deadly beta could attack if he shifted. His friends, who’d made it clear to her that he not be harmed, were now on the other side of the paper-thin door. Would they try to kill her? Would they return her to Chaz? What if they’d found out about her background? No, she couldn’t let that happen.
Gillian waited until Dimitri took his hand off the wall. As he turned toward the door, she reached into her backpack and picked up the gun she’d stolen from the pack house.
“Who’s there?” Dimitri yelled.
“Open the fuck up, D,” Jake replied from the hallway. The door flew open and he caught the sight of Dimitri smiling, wearing only his underwear. A woman stood near the dresser, aiming a firearm at him.
“Hey, bro. Thanks for coming.” Dimitri gave him a quick hug. As much as he enjoyed getting to know his prickly but lovely female rescuer, the sight of Jake came as a relief.
“Good to see you, too. What the hell happened to you?” Jake grimaced, taking sight of the fresh scars marking Dimitri’s chest and throat.
“It’s okay, really. I just have to shift.” Dimitri downplayed his injuries. “I almost forgot, this is Gilly…”
“You mean the hot chick pointing the gun at us?”
“Gun?” Dimitri’s eyes widened. Surprised that she’d pulled a weapon, he held up his hands in a defensive posture and slowly approached her. “What’ve ya got there, cher? You can put that down. This is Jake. He won’t hurt you. He’s a good friend of mine. Acadian Wolves.”
“Jake.” Gillian tilted her head and then nodded at the handsome man who’d come to save his beta. “Nice to meet you. Now that we have all of the pleasantries out of the way, it’s time for me to leave.”
“But I just got here,” Jake protested.
“Sorry, but I’ve gotta run. As I explained to your beta here, I’ve got some nasty folks after me. Same ones who attacked him, as a matter of fact. The good news is, that if you get your asses on a plane and out of here, I’m pretty sure that’ll be the end of your troubles. The bad news is that they are going to find me soon. They’ve got my scent and his. My plan is to high-tail it out of here to Vegas. I’ll lead them away from you. This is my mess, not yours.”
“It may be your mess but I told you that we’re not leaving you,” Dimitri said, his voice serious.
“That’s where we’re going to have to agree to disagree. You need to shift and heal. If you go up against the pack, who knows what will happen? The evil you carry is only temporarily suppressed by my magic. It won’t last and I won’t have your death on my hands…I can’t do that to you.” Gillian fought the emotion that welled up in her chest. The truth was that she was scared shitless to go it alone, but the beta wouldn’t be strong enough in his current condition to survive another wolf attack.
“What the fuck is wrong with your wolf?” Jake exclaimed. He’d been suspicious that something had been off with his friend.
“Goddammit.” Dimitri turned and pounded the wall with his fist out of frustration.
“How long, D?”
“A couple of weeks. I don’t know. Too fucking long.”
“Your girl here says it’s evil. Now the only place I know you could’ve picked up something like that is that hell-infested demon pit you jumped in with Leo.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Three weeks before, Dimitri had followed his friend Léopold into a netherworld to help him save his girlfriend and ever since, he’d had difficulty shifting.
“Well, you should’ve fucking told me.”
“I didn’t know how bad it was. That night on the beach…I couldn’t shift,” Dimitri confessed. He raked his fingers through his hair and glanced over to Gilly, who was hoisting her bag onto her shoulders.
Jake blew out a deep breath and his lips formed a tight line. Things were going to be all fucked up to the tenth degree if his beta couldn’t shift. It was kind of a requirement that if you were a member of a pack, you actually could shift. He had to know for certain how badly his friend was still affected by whatever the hell had attacked him.
“Shift.”<
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“What?” Dimitri asked, incredulous at the demand.
“Just hold it right there!” Gillian yelled. No fucking way did she want to be in the room when two wolves fought or shifted. Her beast would be called to the surface, and she’d have little control to stop it.
“What’s the issue?” Jake began to approach her but quickly stopped as she raised the weapon again.
“No shifting until I’m gone. And lucky for you, I’m outta here.”
“Gilly, please. You can’t fight an entire wolf pack on your own. I’m not letting you go,” Dimitri said.
“See, that’s the thing. I’m not asking for permission. Follow me and I’ll shoot you in the leg. I know you can shift but are you willing to chance it?” Gillian kept her eyes trained on both men, moving slowly to the entrance. She wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and twisted it open. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Okay, then, well, be safe. Go home to New Orleans. Find a witch and have a Bloody Mary for me. Just remember that this is my problem, not yours.”
Neither wolf moved to stop her as she gave them a wink, slamming the door shut. Jesus Christ almighty, she prayed that she was doing the right thing as she ran toward the rental car. Fear coursed through her, but she continued on, clicking the car locks open on the Audi she’d had delivered.
Gillian swallowed the hard lump in her throat and threw her bag into the car. There was nothing in the world she would have liked more than to go with Dimitri to the airport and hop a plane to the east coast. But her paranoia was stronger than her desire to get to know the handsome beta. Aware that she was putting her own life at risk in order to divert attention away from him, she sucked a breath and told herself it was for his own good. It was her fault he’d been attacked. It was her who Chaz sought. It wasn’t fair to Dimitri or his friend to let them help her. At the end of the day, she could die in peace if she got caught. Putting Dimitri in danger again was simply not an option.
Chapter Two
Dimitri insisted on following Gillian. If she thought she’d dismiss him, she had another think coming. Nice try, cher. You will not escape so easily. After she’d slammed the door to the hotel room, he’d quickly shifted to heal his remaining injuries. It wasn’t long before he and Jake had taken off after her in their car.
Loathe as he was to admit it, whatever had latched onto his soul was still there. Like a dark shadow, it lingered. Part of him knew he needed to get back to New Orleans as soon as possible to see Ilsbeth, the one witch he knew who could help him. But given the brief interaction he’d had with his Florence Nightingale, that’d have to go on the back burner. For once his brain and his dick were in perfect agreement; get the girl.
“Tell me again why we’re following some mystery chick? One who I’m pretty sure was responsible for helping get your face torn off,” Jake commented, hoping Dimitri would catch his eye roll.
“Her name’s Gilly. And because the lady was nice enough to save my ass and now I plan to save hers.”
“You wanting her ass is one thing we probably can agree on. Why? Well, that’s a whole other question.”
“It’s nice. That should be reason enough.”
“I bet she exercises a lot. Squats would do it.”
“She was in the room with you for all of two minutes and you took reconnaissance on her ass?”
“Special ops, bro. I’ve got eyes in the back of my head,” Jake joked.
“Then you must have also noticed that she needs our help.”
“Whatever you say. It’s just that with your wolf on the fritz, don’t ya think we oughtta get back to NOLA? Listen, I know you and the witch had a bit of a fallin’ out, but damn; it’s your wolf. This is some serious shit. When Logan finds out what happened…”
“Logan doesn’t need to know right now.” Dimitri knew he should tell his Alpha, but Logan hadn’t even noticed that his wolf had gone silent. Both he and his mate had been over the moon, doting over their newly adopted daughter. Dimitri didn’t want to worry him any more than necessary. He’d tell them when he got back to New Orleans. As he figured it, he’d catch up to Gillian and convince her to fly back to Louisiana with him. When they got to the city, he’d ask Logan to call the asshole Alpha from California and smooth things over. Since their packs didn’t abut boundaries, no territory disputes would arise.
“You must’ve knocked your head in when you were attacked. You really think our Alpha doesn’t know what happened? You do know your girl called every number on your damn cell, right? Said she wasn’t going to chance having someone forget she called.”
“Fuck,” Dimitri swore, blowing out a breath. “Give me your phone.”
“Finally, you see reason.” Jake dug his cell out of the console and tossed it to Dimitri.
“Yeah, yeah.” Dimitri began tapping at the screen.
“You aren’t calling Logan, are you?” Jake slammed a palm down on the steering wheel.
“Hell, no. If I tell him what’s happenin’, he’s gonna leave his mate and babe and come runnin’ out here. He’s been through enough. They’ve both been through enough.”
“What about Léopold?”
“What the hell? How many people did she call?”
“I told ya. She called your contacts.”
“All of them?” Dimitri exclaimed, stroking his goatee. It looked more like a full grown beard, since he hadn’t shaved in a week.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? I can tell ya that she called Logan, Léopold and me. It’s possible she called a few of your special friends,” Jake drawled, knowing that it would irk Dimitri.
“Fuck me.”
“Yeah, well, Logan sent me. You’re lucky that he and Leo are up to their eyeballs in love or Logan’d be out here in a pack war. And Leo? Hell, he’d probably be ripping out hearts and sucking wolves dry…including your little shifter girl. Speaking of which…what kind of shifter is she? I couldn’t get close enough to tell by her scent…”
“I don’t know,” Dimitri said flatly, unwilling to share that she’d been nearly naked, skin to skin against him but he still hadn’t been able to tell what she was.
“You sure she’s not wolf?”
“Nope. Not a wolf. Why do they make these buttons so fucking small?” Dimitri swore, continuing to toy with the cell phone. “I don’t get why an Alpha wants to mess with another shifter?”
“Why, indeed?” Jake glanced over to his friend. “And how the hell are we supposed to find her? She’s been gone for a while now. As good as I am, and oh, I am good, there’s no way in hell we’re gonna track her from the wind flyin’ by on a highway.”
“No, but we will find her using a tracking app.” Dimitri smiled and waved the device in the air.
“Clever wolf. I just assumed she trashed your phone afterward.”
“She likes me.” Dimitri waggled his eyebrows and chuckled. “She’s still got my phone. Just couldn’t give up a piece of the big D.”
“Yeah, yeah. Where’s she headed?”
“Sin city. She’s on I-15. Looks like she’s stopped for gas. It’s only about five hours to Vegas from here.”
“What’s the deal with this woman? Do you think she was in on it? Logan put a call in to the local Alpha. He denies that he approved the attack. Claims they were rogues.”
“No. The girl’s on the run. As for the Alpha, I’m not buyin’ his story. It had to be his wolves.”
“I get that you didn’t check in with him right away, but the odds of them finding and attacking a non-aggressive stranger are pretty low. It doesn’t sync.”
“They were after her, not me. I was just a casualty.” Dimitri shook his head. He knew that he should get his ass back on a plane to New Orleans, but there was something about Gilly. The need to protect her, to repay her was overwhelming. Like a compulsion; he hadn’t given a second thought to chasing her. If she’d been wolf, he might have been worried that she could be his mate. But since she wasn’t wolf, there was no way that she was. Maybe she didn’t want to rev
eal her nature, but once he found her, he planned on getting the truth. “She’s a shifter. Whatever she is, it must be badass. ‘Cause Jake, I’m tellin’ ya, bro, I was messed up bad. I called for my wolf…” His words trailed off into silence.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing happening. Whatever was in that pit…we’ve gotta get you to Ilsbeth. Maybe we shouldn’t worry about Gilly. I know you think she’s something special, but for all you know, she shifts into a skunk.”
“Fuck you,” Dimitri snorted. “There’s no way. I’ve had her sweet little body wrapped around mine. My girl’s probably a fox….sly and smooth.”
“Or a bear.”
“Hey, don’t hate on the bear. A bear? Well, she’d probably be wild in bed. Uninhibited.”
“Not many people survive bear attacks.”
“Oh, I’d survive and love every minute of it. I like it a little rough. Besides, it doesn’t matter. Whatever she is, my wolf likes her. She saved him, and he wants to return the favor.”
“Yeah, your wolf wants to do something with her, all right. Somehow I don’t think it involves just savin’ her.”
“Yes, he does.” Dimitri laughed. “And why not? He deserves a little fun.”
“Seriously? She just held a gun on us. Do I need to answer that question?”
“No, and it doesn’t matter, cause it’s gonna be cool when I do find out what she is. I know I'm gonna like it.”
“Maybe you need to take it easy.”
“I’m fine now,” Dimitri said, not sure if he was trying to convince himself or Jake.
“Just sayin’, D. You just recovered from a beat down. We don’t know when or if your wolf is going to go on the fritz or whatever else the hell could happen. I know you are, uh…” Jake tried real hard to select his words carefully. Near-death experiences had a way of giving one a new perspective on life, yet Dimitri seemed as courageous and impulsive as ever, “…compromised. Dying has a way of doing that to you. Let’s face it; we’re used to being immortal. But with your wolf gone, you and I both know that you were nothing more than human.”