The message icon flashed on the screen. His determination waivered for a moment. He longed to hear his mate’s sweet voice, but he couldn’t risk it. She was a weakness he couldn’t afford to indulge right now. He dialed Derek’s number instead.
“Hey, Kirk. That garage was a bust. Rand’s not having any luck either. Did you get what you needed from Silver’s place?”
Good, they haven’t found them yet. “It’s trashed. They know who she is.” Saying the words aloud brought clarity. A snarl ripped from his throat. “They fucking know who she is. Someone betrayed us.” Silence from the other end of the line raised his hackles. “What’s going on?” he snapped.
“Didn’t Silver call you? She promised Riesa she would call you on the way to the station.”
Ice filled his veins. The hot fury he’d been battling to control turned to ashes. “Tell me what the fuck you’re talking about.” He could barely hear the words of explanation from his alpha over the roar of blood pumping through his veins. With a couple of massive leaps, he cleared the flights of steps from her apartment to the ground floor. He slammed through the communal door and raced for his vehicle.
The journey from Silver’s apartment to the police station passed in a blur. He pressed the message replay on his phone again. “Oh, um…hey, Kirk, it’s Silver. I’m fine, everything is fine….” Her gentle voice filled the cab of his truck, lashing his soul. Screeching to a halt outside the station, he barreled through the door, sending a young uniformed officer flying.
“Where is she?” he yelled, stepping over the kid’s legs to brace his hands on the front counter.
“I need you to calm down, sir,” the clerk stammered.
“Where is Silver Ellis? I need to see her right now.” Fucking humans were too stupid for their own good. It amazed him they had survived to be the dominant species on the planet when they couldn’t recognize a predator among them.
The clerk’s face paled, and he backed away from the desk.
“It’s okay, Mike. We’ve got this.”
Kirk swung toward the familiar voice, the other humans in the room forgotten. “Where is she, Jesse?” The man’s disheveled appearance registered. “What the fuck happened to you?”
A livid bruise decorated the detective’s left cheek, and his filthy clothes were ripped in places. Charlie hadn’t faired any better, given the way he cradled his wrist.
Jesse limped toward a door marked Authorized Personnel Only. “Come on, she’s in the break room. I’ll fill you in on the way.”
Kirk tried to focus on their story about a tip-off on Razor’s location, the late realization it was a trap, and the ensuing gun fight. A couple of punks, junior members of the gang eager to earn their stripes. Dead now. The apartment on Cherry had been one of the two locations remaining on his list.
“But no sign of Razor?” He needed to be clear on that. Needed to know his target was still out there.
Jesse shook his head, using his shoulder to push open the door of the break room. “Nah, man, just a couple of kids.” He looked sickened over having killed the young men. Weak. Kirk didn’t have time for weakness. He needed to get Silver to a safe place, and then the whole gang was dead.
Every last one of them.
Shoving past Jesse, he ground to halt in the empty room and drew a deep breath. No honeysuckle. He turned on Jesse with a growl, grabbing a fistful of his filthy shirt. “What the fuck kind of game are you playing, Farrell? Silver’s never been in here.”
“Easy, Kirk. Take it easy. Let me call Ray and find out where they are,” Charlie cut in.
“Ray? Who the fuck is Ray?” He shoved Jesse out of the way and stormed into the corridor.
Tracking back and forth, he sorted the myriad of scents clogging the passageway. Focus, focus. There! The delicate beauty of her unique fragrance called to him. Sprinting down the corridor, he slammed his shoulder against a heavy steel door, stumbling down the first few steps in his hurry. He ran out into the parking lot, stopped, and turned in a slow circle, trying to pick up the trail.
Engine oil, gas fumes, a hint of rubber. She’d transferred into a vehicle on this spot, by choice or force, he couldn’t tell. The two detectives reached him, Jesse still limping. The ice coating his veins cracked, the ravenous fury boiling forth like a volcanic eruption. Claws burst from his fingers, and his jaw stretched wide to accommodate his fangs.
“Fuck, Kirk! Hold it together, man,” Charlie yelled. “You can’t shift here!”
The human was right. He needed more information before he could unleash the wolf. Soon, brother. Soon we will bathe in blood and vengeance. He sucked in a breath and shackled the beast inside.
“That’s it. That’s better. Take a minute and we can figure this out.” Charlie lowered his voice, raised a hand to pat Kirk on the arm, and decided better of it. Good call on his part. He had information they didn’t. He needed to share what he knew, use them to aid in the search for Razor.
“The gang knows about Silver. I went by her place earlier. It’s a wreck.” A red film washed over his vision, and he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. “They wrote stuff on the walls. Threats. They know who she is. There’s a leak somewhere, and it’s not in the pack.”
“Ray!” Jesse shook his head. “He’s the one who gave us the bogus tip, that asshole!” Another name to add to the list. Cop or no cop, Ray would die.
Charlie lowered his phone. “No answer from him. Where the hell is he?” He glanced around the lot. “His car’s gone. Hold on a minute.” He lifted his phone again, spoke to a colleague, and requested a trace on Ray’s service vehicle. “Northside? The industrial park, yeah I know it. Hey! Kirk, where are you going?” Charlie yelled across the lot after him.
He paused, turned, and snarled. “I know where she is. Don’t follow me.”
“Come on now, you know we can’t let you do this,” Jesse said, hobbling toward him.
The leash on Kirk’s temper snapped. “Time to fucking choose, Jesse. This is pack business, now. My business. Your laws don’t count when it comes to one of our own. If you can’t back me up, then stay the fuck out of my way.”
Kirk gave the wolf inside him its head, using the animal’s strength to give him extra speed. He rounded the building, jumped into his truck, and roared away from the curb. A piece of paper fluttered beneath the windscreen wiper, but he ignored it. If he survived the next couple of hours, a parking ticket would be the least of his worries.
I’m coming, Silver. Hold on for me, baby. I’m coming.
***
Shards of wood flew in every direction as the wolf threw his weight against the warehouse door. Landing on four paws, he shook the splinters free, his fur too thick for any to penetrate to the skin below. Shouts and curses greeted his arrival, followed swiftly by a volley of gunfire. The bullets thunked harmlessly into the concrete behind him as the wolf sprinted for the shadowy edges of the room.
He lifted his head and loosed an eerie howl that echoed around the cavernous space. The delicious scent of fear drifted to his nose. Humans might not live among the wolves now, but their DNA carried the imprint of their ancestors. Their limbic system recognized a deadly threat stalked them.
Darting left, he evaded another flurry of shots, hunkered low, and crawled toward his first target. The man peered around the corner of a pile of packing cases, staring at the spot where Kirk had been. He leapt on the man’s back, using his claws to rake down his sides, spilling blood and other, thicker things. Screams rent the air, and he sprinted away without making a killing strike. The noise of the dying man would add to the confusion.
Finding a spot that would shield him from view, Kirk pushed back the wolf and resumed his human form. He needed to analyze the layout of the warehouse, pinpoint Silver’s location, and catalog the numbers he faced. Ignoring the screams, he studied the ill-lit room. His best-case scenario of facing a handful of the gang went out the window. Using sight and smell, he identified at least twenty individual scents
, and, thank fuck! the sweet, delicate aroma of honeysuckle.
“Silver!”
“I’m here, Kirk, I’m okay—” His beloved mate’s voice ended in a cry of pain and a crack of flesh against flesh.
“Shut up, bitch! Hey, whoever the fuck you are, you’re a dead man. No one attacks the Lobos and lives to talk about it.”
Kirk threw back his head and laughed. The audacity of these worthless little shits to label themselves as wolves. Time to teach them the error of their ways. Time to show them what a real wolf was capable of. He pushed to his feet, heedless of his nudity, and strode into one of the thin beams cast by the overhead lighting.
“Whoa! Look at the size of him.”
“What the fuck, man? Why you naked?”
The questions and nervous laughter flew from the main group as he stalked toward them. His lack of visible weapons made them cocky. The braggadocious nature they wore as part of their gang culture forcing them into stupidity.
No gun, no threat.
He kept his pace steady, waiting for the right moment. A couple of shoulders dropped, one of the younger kids turned to the others, grabbing his crotch and making a dirty comment. Laughter. Perfect.
He transitioned from walking to running too fast for the human eye. Traveling at full speed, he called the wolf, landing in the center of the group in a slash of claws and teeth. Blood flew. Bones crunched between his jaws. Flesh parted as he struck and sliced his way through them. Heat flashed along his left flank, a sharper pain stabbed his shoulder, but he shook it off. No time to catalogue his hurts, not when there was so much death to be delivered.
The floor of the warehouse grew slippery beneath his paws, the blood of his victims combining with that flowing from his wounds. His front right leg wouldn’t take his weight, and he stumbled. A loud report echoed close to his head, and fire lanced down his spine. With a shout of pain, Kirk shifted to human form, threw himself at the man who had just shot him, and smashed his jaw with a meaty punch.
The shift helped with some of the injuries, but there were too many for his shifter ability to handle. His right hand hung at an odd angle, so he smashed his elbow into the nose of the nearest attacker. Silver was close, he could scent her, even through the blood, sweat, and pain that surrounded him. Bodies littered the floor, but they kept coming. He needed to shift.
Another bullet struck him in the lower back, and he collapsed to one knee. Failed. I’ve failed my mate, my pack. He pushed to his feet, grabbed the young man who ran at him, wrenched his head, and dropped the corpse on the floor.
“Motherfucker! I’m gonna kill you, I’m gonna slice your guts open and watch you bleed to death,” a voice screamed. He turned to see a man with a livid scar down his cheek—Razor. He recognized him from the description Silver gave during her witness statement.
Kirk smiled. He wasn’t going to make it out alive. The damage to his body told him that, but he’d take the gang leader with him. He raised his left hand and beckoned to the human. A blow struck his shoulder, spinning him around, knocking him to the floor. He tried to lift himself up but fell back again. Razor stood over him, a glint of madness in his eyes. The man crouched over him, a knife glinting in his right hand. He raised his arm to deliver the killing blow.
With the last of his energy, Kirk struck, sinking his claws into Razor’s throat. Hot blood poured from the ruined flesh, splashing across his face. The dead gang leader toppled sideways, pinning him to the cold concrete floor.
A chorus of howls split the air, and Kirk blinked hard, trying to focus on the wavering image above him. He must be hallucinating. Or perhaps his ancestors had come to take him to their final resting place. His eyelids felt like lead weights. He gave into the urge to close them, just for a moment. No. Can’t give up, Silver needs me. The heavy weight across his chest shifted, allowing him to draw a shallow breath.
He forced his eyes open and stared in wonder at the image of his mate’s beautiful face floating before him. Snarls, screams, and howls rent the air around them, the familiar scents of the pack drifted over him. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t save you, baby,” he whispered.
Soft hands stroked his face, a soothing balm against the pain radiating through every part of his body. “You came for me, Kirk. I knew you would.”
“I’ll always come for you, kitten.” His voice rasped in his ears. He coughed, a wet ugly sound.
“I know. I know.” She laid her head against his cheek, her tears soaking into his beard. His Silver was crying. She shouldn’t ever cry; he’d sworn to make her laugh. He tried to lift his arm, to cradle her head, but he couldn’t move.
A shadow fell across his face. He blinked away the tears in his eyes and stared into the golden eyes of his alpha. Strong fingers cupped the side of his face. “Rest now, my brother. It’s done. Your mate is safe from harm, and I will protect her with my own life. Sleep easy.”
The blackness swallowed him whole.
Epilogue
Kirk set his computer to one side as the sweet scent of his mate filled the room. She paused on the threshold of the bedroom, her delectable curves hidden beneath a shapeless cotton dress.
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
He growled deep in his chest. “I’m bored of fucking resting. I’ve been stuck in this bed for a week now.” A sly smile played about his mouth. “If you came over here and laid down beside me, I’m sure I could manage to rest some more.”
The musical chime of her laughter rang out. “Kirk Matheson, I know all about your idea of resting.”
With an aggrieved sigh, he tried to settle himself more comfortably against the pile of pillows at his back. He winced, and she flew across the room like a shot.
“What is it, what hurts?” She cupped his rough-bearded cheek, eyes full of concern.
Grabbing her hand, he dragged it under the covers and curled her fingers around the throbbing length of his cock. “This, baby. It hurts real bad. Maybe a cramp or something?”
The pupils in her chocolate-brown eyes expanded; the deep-rose flush he loved so much bloomed on her cheek. Her breathing faltered, and the delicate fragrance of her arousal perfumed the air. Her hand shaped his flesh, slid to the bottom of his shaft, and back up to massage the flared head in her palm.
“I missed you, kitten,” he moaned.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered, though she kept working his cock. “The healer said you almost died.”
Soft tears glistened on the tips of her lashes, shredding his heart. He grabbed her by the waist, hauling her onto his lap. Arms wrapped tight around her, he rocked back and forth while she cried.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I don’t mean to be silly. It’s just…. Oh, Kirk, I was so scared I would lose you.”
He cupped the back of her head, pressing her face into the curve of his neck. “Hush, kitten. Hush now, I’m here. I’m right here, and I’m never going to let you out of my sight again.”
The storm of weeping passed soon enough. He understood it to be more relief than anything else, his mate letting go the tension now she knew he was going to be okay. He’d choked back a few sobs of his own after waking up safe in their bed a couple of nights ago. Her tears dried against his skin. She brushed a kiss beneath his ear, and the soothing strokes he made against her back shifted to something harder, more urgent. He slid his hands lower, cupping her plump ass, loving the way she filled his hands to overflowing.
A guttural moan escaped her lips. “You need to rest.”
“I need to fuck you.” He snarled in frustration at the voluminous folds of material trapped between their bodies. “I need you out of this dress, baby.”
She wriggled away from his hold, regained her feet beside the bed, and toyed with the buttons running down the bodice. He lowered his eyebrows in a frown, too impatient for games.
“Don’t test me, kitten.”
“Oh, hush yourself.” She gave him a cheeky grin, unfastening her dress to the waist. Trailing one finger down her stern
um, she parted the ugly cotton to reveal a silk cream teddy, edged in lace. He leaned forward, tried to grab her wrist, but she danced out of reach.
“Show me the rest,” he demanded.
With a twist of her hips, she removed the rest of her dress, leaving it to pool at her feet. Grasping the edge of the sheet, she tugged it down his body, baring his straining cock to her greedy gaze. She bent forward, the thick waves of her hair cascading into his lap as she stretched her lips wide and swallowed the head of his cock.
The heat of her mouth scalded his aching flesh, and he buried his hands in her hair, using the silken strands to distract him from thrusting his hips. Her hand clenched on his thigh. She pulled back, slid forward again, and took him deeper. There was more enthusiasm than skill to her technique, but he didn’t much care when she used the tip of her tongue to probe the perfect spot just beneath the head.
Being a passive participant didn’t come naturally to him, and the smell of her arousal was driving him crazy. He clutched her hips, lifting and turning her body at the same time until she sprawled across his chest, her pussy mere inches from his face. The pale silk covering her sex was soaked with her cream. Lifting his head, he sucked the material into his mouth, drawing on the taste he craved.
She moaned around his cock, taking him deeper in response to the brush of his mouth. He released the snaps on the teddy, and dove forward to shove his tongue as deep into her core as he could. He fucked her hard and fast, fingers convulsing around her hips.
He’d come so close to losing her, to losing everything, including his life. The need to prove they’d cheated death stirred deep within him. Raising his hand, he smacked his palm hard against the left cheek of her ass. She released his cock with a sharp cry, turning her head to stare in disbelief at him over one shoulder.
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