by Kimber White
Now, I hid in a deep ravine a few hundred yards from the churning waters of the river. I saw the yellow house just as Lena described it in her vision. Craftsman-style with white shutters and pillars supporting an overhanging front porch. Once upon a time, it had probably served as the warden’s house. The main prison buildings had long since been torn down. Only the old watchtowers remained. A chain link fence with razor wire surrounded the house, but that was clearly new. I knew that fence was to keep people out. It would never be strong enough to deter a full-blooded shifter like me. Something else did though.
Four shifters patrolled the perimeter outside the fence. Their casual gait surprised me. Then again, as far as Able Valent knew, only his inner circle even knew he was here.
He was though. I could sense him. Not him specifically, but the tension running through the four beta wolves near the fence was palpable. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. My shoulders shook and I pressed my belly into the soft earth. If the patrol scented me now, they might be fast enough to overtake me.
But, maybe they wouldn’t. Instead, maybe I’d be fast enough to get past them. How much time would I need to find Able and rip his throat out? One on one, I knew I could kill him. Ten seconds? Twenty? The betas would get to me first. The rest of the Pack would sense the danger to their Alpha instantly. I’d have maybe a minute or two before the Pack got to me and tore me apart. Ten seconds and a head start. It might be enough.
“Mannie, you hear something?”
I flattened myself to the ground even more. One of the other shifters followed Mannie’s voice and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. They were looking a little to the left of my position. I didn’t think it was me they sensed.
“You’re still twitchy from yesterday, Geordie,” Mannie said, laughing.
“Shut the hell up about yesterday. There was something out there.”
Mannie shrugged. The pair of them were big, well-muscled, but no match for me in size. I could take the two of them easily. But, spilling their blood would send an instant signal to the Alpha. Was he inside that house even now? He had to be. Why else would he have foot patrols at this time of night?
“Geordie, there’s nothing out there but that crazy old lady and that addled kid. Which one are you afraid of?”
Geordie took a swing at Mannie. He neatly dodged it and erupted in fresh laughter.
“That kid,” Geordie said, “is creepy as hell. There’s something not right about her.”
“Yeah. She’s touched in the head. She’s not dangerous. Can’t figure why Valent lets them live out here.”
“That’s none of your business,” Geordie said. I didn’t know the context, but Geordie seemed quicker to anger than the conversation warranted. He had a fistful of Mannie’s shirt and shoved him back. They were both betas, but Geordie was clearly in charge. Mannie’s wolf eyes flashed, but he showed no other sign of aggression. Instead, he took a step back and headed back toward his side of the fence.
I waited. I watched. Mannie, Geordie and the two other members of Able’s patrol walked the four corners of the property. None of them ventured more than thirty yards from the fence. As far as I could tell, the watchtowers weren’t manned.
As I kept low and downwind of them, they never knew I was there. As the night wore on, I knew that was my first solid piece of intel. A solo shifter like me could get close to them without detection. If I’d shifted, maybe they would have sensed that. Maybe not. It was a good night’s work and I knew I should head back to the caves and let the others know. But, as the sun began to rise, there was so much more I could do.
There was a shift change just after dawn. Geordie, Mannie and the other two were replaced by three new betas. That too was good information. The patrols were lighter during the day. I’d need to watch a few more days to be sure, but it was a safe bet. I slid back down the ravine and moved through the woods, closer to the river. As full daylight approached, I’d be easier to spot.
I found an overgrown trail and backtracked it to the denser part of the forest. When I got far out of the line of sight of the prison, I shifted. Sharp branches brushed against my back as I rose to my full height. I’d set my camp here as night fell yesterday. I’d found a rotted out hollow in a large maple tree and stuffed what limited supplies I needed. They consisted mainly of a few pairs of clean jeans, boots, a canteen and a toothbrush.
After pulling on my jeans, I headed down a small hill to the spring I’d found the night before. I let the cool water run over my hands and scrubbed my face. I’d disturbed an owl. He hooted above me. The trees shimmied as a breeze kicked up. Then, the wind shifted.
Tiny hairs rose along my spine. There was something here. Something...familiar. I froze. Still squatting in front of the spring, I turned my head to the side and closed my eyes. Drawing in a breath through my nose, I tried to pick up the scent.
Blackbirds flew out of a tree to the left of me. The few fallen leaves along the banks of the stream had been newly crushed. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Someone other than me had been through here recently.
Instinct told me it wasn’t the shifter patrols. This wasn’t wolf I smelled. At least not...completely.
Staying in the shadows, I picked up the new trail and followed it downhill. In a small clearing about two hundred yards from the campsite I’d picked, I saw it.
“Motherfucker,” I muttered under my breath.
Nestled among the pines was a small log cabin. Rustic and hand built, I could see it had plenty of modern amenities. Solar panels covered the roof. A satellite dish was screwed to the southern peak of the roof. Clean laundry hung between two poles driven into the ground.
There were no shifters here. And yet, the scent pouring through me didn’t feel altogether human either. My wolf stirred then clamored to get out.
The cabin itself was empty. I could see through the back windows. As I moved around to the front, I saw two sets of footprints in the dirt heading northeast toward town. They branched off. One going straight for Heartland, the other making a sharp turn to the east.
She was close. Every cell in my body told me the owner of the second set of footprints was female. My vision brightened and I knew my wolf eyes glinted through the trees. So close.
I should have turned. I should have found another place to camp. And yet, I had to see. I had to know who in the hell would risk living this close to Able Valent, Chief Alpha to the Kentucky Pack.
Her voice reached me first. I hid in thick needles of a group of pine trees. The girl’s figure flickered through the gap in the branches. She was humming, her voice high and pleasant as she squatted to pick berries off the ground. Her clothes were odd for her surroundings. She wore a flowing white skirt and a red shirt, open at the collar. No shoes. Her dark, thick hair hung to her waist.
She hiked her skirt above her knees as she stepped over a fallen branch. Her legs were long and supple, tanned to a rich caramel color. When she leaned down again to fill her basket with berries, her shirt fell past her shoulders revealing the ample swell of her breasts.
I lost my balance and landed on my ass among the trees. I thought she was just a little girl at first. She had an innocence to her expression. Wide, ocean-blue eyes as the light caught them. Her brows were thick and straight. Her nose turned up and was slightly pinched at the end. She had a round face with a strong jaw and lips so red at first I thought she’d been eating as many berries as she picked.
There was something...off...about her. Her scent wasn’t like most human women. Not shifter either. It was something in between. My inner predator reeled, trying to process it.
She looked up as the wind shifted. Her nostrils flared and she cocked her head to the side. She was human. She was human. And yet, she was acting like she could scent me. I froze, not even daring to breathe.
“Rowan!”
A voice rose, picked up by the breeze. It was coming from the cabin far behind us. Surely, it belonged to the other set of footprints. Their own
er had apparently just returned from town.
Rowan.
She scowled then rolled her eyes as the woman called her name again. She didn’t answer. Instead, she slowly rose to her full height. Squatting down and half hidden, I couldn’t be sure exactly how tall she was. But, I guessed she was taller than average. Five foot nine, maybe?
A branch cracked behind her. Rowan whipped her head around. Her dark hair flew behind her. The scent of it reached me. She squared her shoulders and slowly turned.
With her back still to me, I watched her shoulders rise and fall with her sharp intake of air. “You might as well come out,” she said, her voice lilting, no fear at all.
I snarled, my protective instincts flaring. But, I moved out of the underbrush and slowly rose.
Rowan turned. Her eyes flashed with some dark mystery, but she held her ground. Why wasn’t she afraid?
“Who are you?” I asked. I shouldn’t have. I should have just shifted into my wolf and taken off. To a human woman like Rowan, she would have seen me standing there one minute, then vanished the next.
“The better question,” she said, moving toward me, “is who the hell are you?”
Four
Rowan
I got careless. I should have sensed him standing there. Maybe I had. Maybe there’d been some small part of me that noticed the change in the wind or the strong, male scent emanating from him. Once I’d turned and focused my attention on him outright, his scent overpowered me.
Strong. Almost feral. Powerful.
His eyes glinted silver and his inner wolf stirred. He would be a giant if he shifted. Somehow, I could almost see his wolf superimposed with the man standing in front of me. Gray with silver streaks, lush fur and keen, penetrating blue eyes.
A low growl emanated from his core. No one but another wolf should have been able to hear it. But, I did. Setting my woven basket down, I straightened my shoulders and walked up to him.
“Who are you?” he asked me again.
How could he not know? Was he just trying to unsettle me? He’d already done that just by being here. I felt pressure between my shoulder blades and the hair at the back of my neck stood on end.
I looked closer. I’d never seen him before. I would have remembered. Dark, thick hair, slicked back. It hung past his ears, just brushing his shoulders. He was bare-chested with defined abs, carved in granite. My fingers brimmed with the urge to touch the dusting of dark curls that covered his pecs and led a trail all the way down.
“Don’t you know?” I asked.
He didn’t. He honest to God didn’t. Even if my own senses hadn’t screamed the answer, his mere presence in front of me told me the most important thing about him. He wasn’t a member of the Pack. He was an intruder.
“Rowan!” Aunt Grace’s hollar came from further away than the first one. She was looking for me in the wrong place.
The intruder’s lip curled in a little half-smile. Oh, yes. He was dangerous. But, not Pack. Which meant he was either foolish, or he had some kind of death wish. The Pack patrols would head this way soon.
“You’re...you’re not…” He reached for me. His eyes misted and his fingers trembled a bit as they hovered in the air in front of my face. Heat speared from my heart straight down to my toes. I took a step back and he dropped his hand.
Whatever unsettled him, he recovered from it quickly. His wolf eyes flashed silver and his brow furrowed. When I reached for him, he stopped me by grabbing my wrist. He held me in an iron grip as he searched my face for answers I couldn’t believe he didn’t already possess.
“Rowan,” he whispered. “Rowan. Rowan what?”
Good question, I wanted to say. Instead, I said nothing. Leaves rustled behind him. The patrols were coming. How the hell did he not realize that? By the intensity of his gaze, I knew why. Whatever else this man was, he was flat out thunderstruck by the likes of me.
“Do you know what this place is?” he asked, still gripping my wrist. His fingers seared my skin. My heart thumped a wild pace and sweat beaded my brow.
“Do you?”
“Heartland,” he answered.
“I live here,” I said, recovering my bravado. “What’s your business?”
His lips parted but he didn’t speak. He was still trying to puzzle out what I was. His unbreaking scrutiny raised every alarm bell inside of me. To hell with this.
I jerked my wrist out of his grasp. His eyes widened with shock at the strength I showed. I’d only just begun.
I let out a breath and with it, my own inner beast churned. I let her out just a little. This was the part Aunt Grace didn’t fully understand. I was in control. No trembling. No double vision. I didn’t feel faint or breathless. Whatever happened to me now, I owned this.
My vision blurred for just an instant before it brightened. I knew he saw the flash in my own eyes. My heart beat double time as I let primal energy flow through me. I took a bold step toward him, leaving only a few inches of space between us. The ends of his hair lifted, but his gaze held steady.
Bending at the knees, I took a ready stance in front of him. If he charged me, he still outweighed me by a good seventy pounds. If he shifted, he’d be twice as strong. But, he wouldn’t be faster.
I let out a growl, fully expecting his knees to buckle. I’d perfected this, bringing down at least a dozen Pack patrols without them even knowing what happened. Geordie’s loss of bladder control the other day had been the least of it.
I waited and held my ground. Any second now. He’d shift. His wolf would whine, side-step and double back the way he came at top speed.
But, nothing happened.
He kept his posture straight, his silver eyes locked with mine. His lips curled back in a snarl, but he didn’t shift. Why didn’t he shift? Instead, his power shot toward me in a wall of heat. His defenses went up. I saw the hairs bristle along his shoulders. His wolf was there, simmering below the surface, but he stayed fully in control of it.
My legs started to give out. My breath left me in a whoosh and I almost dropped. With lightning quick reflexes, he shot out a hand and caught my elbow.
“Rowan,” he said.
I jerked away. “Don’t touch me.” I couldn’t stand it if he did. His fingers burned through me.
“Are you okay? What was that? You’re...you’re like...but…” He shook his head as if that would stop his shocked stammer.
“You should go,” I said, gasping. “This is no place for someone like you.”
“Someone like me? What do you know about it?”
I didn’t. That’s the truth. This man was unlike any I’d ever encountered. The strength emanating from him was more powerful than anything I’d felt except for…No. That wasn’t possible. This was Heartland. Even he knew that.
Deep, gruff voices reached my ears. His pricked and he dropped low, finally able to sense the Pack patrols closing in. I realized with fresh horror that I was the reason he hadn’t picked up on it before. He’d been so focused on me that he missed the sounds and scent of the others. And now, he might pay for it with his life.
“Who’s out there?” I recognized one of the voices as belonging to Clayton Sampson. He was one of the Chief Alpha’s most trusted guards. He was usually brought in to train the others. Clayton was also one of the meanest sons of bitches I’d ever encountered. I’d watched him tear the heads off a few of Valent’s other guards when he didn’t feel they were doing their jobs well. If he caught this guy’s scent, there’s no telling what might happen.
“Stay here,” I said. I hiked up my skirt and vaulted up the hill past him.
“What?” he turned, eyes wide. I rounded on him.
“Stay low. Don’t do anything that’ll draw even more attention to yourself. That is...if you want to live or even just walk out of here with all your limbs still attached. When they start to move off, then run like hell and don’t look back.”
He stared at me open-mouthed, but his predatory nature reflected back at me in the glim
mer of his wolf eyes. He understood.
“Hey!” I yelled, running as fast as I could as east as I could. My skirt tore on a branch, ripping it in two all the way up to my thigh. Dammit. That would take an afternoon to mend.
I tripped over another clump of gnarled branches; landing on my palms, I scraped the skin.
My chest tightened as two Pack members drew near. Two pairs of wolf eyes glinted gold as they got to me. The air grew thick and my nerves ignited. Danger. Run. But, I stayed right where I was.
Sweat poured between my shoulder blades and dripped down my nose. My hair clung to my forehead and I stayed low to the ground, my legs sprawled out behind me.
“Who the hell is that?” one of the shifters asked the others. Thank God, it wasn’t Clayton. He must have moved off to the west. I knew one of these men as Teague. He was newer and more timid, preferring to stick to the fence line near Able’s house. The other I’d never seen before. He was small and slight with a grayish pallor to his skin. A new recruit. He couldn’t be more than maybe sixteen years old. Fresh off the truck. That would work to my advantage.
If I closed my eyes and held my breath, I swear I could hear the intruder’s heartbeat down in the clearing. If I could, how the hell couldn’t the patrol? If he tried to run now, it would be worse. Like it or not, it appeared I was the one line of defense he had. Later, I’d have to figure out why it mattered to me. I just knew on a cellular level it did. Clayton would use the others and make an example out of him.
I moaned and rolled to my side. The pain was real. Blood trickled down my wrist. I’d impaled the heel of my hand on the sharp point of one of the branches. It would heal quickly, but bleed a lot before that.
I let my jaw hang slack and my vision go out of focus. Even so, I could sense their positions with absolute precision. One quick movement, and I could have them both on their backs. But, then what? I’d have the advantage of surprise, but I’d be no match for Clayton and the other two shifters the instant these boys sent out a distress call. I could buy my new acquaintance time and distraction, that was all. If he was smart, he’d take that gift and do what I said. Run like hell and never look back.