by Terry Spear
“Okay. We’re headed over there now, and we’ll wait for him.” Ryder glanced at Lexi, who was wringing her hands, frowning. He prayed her father would make it okay and everyone would be safe.
Lexi took a deep breath and let it out. He hated to see how anxious she was. He didn’t blame her. Between worrying that something might go wrong and her father could be killed, or that the U.S. Marshals learned he was seeing her and they’d kick him out of the program, she had a lot on her plate. But he thought he could help settle her father with a pack that could look out for him, better than just changing his identity and where he lived. Then Lexi could see her father, as long as they took precautions not to alert Tremaine’s men.
“Let us know how it goes,” Edward said, though Ryder assumed he would be on point the whole time and have some idea of what had transpired while it was happening.
“Will do.” Ryder ended the call and was ready to escort Lexi to her dad’s cabin, but she held up her hand and shook her head.
“I’m going to do this on my own. None of you are supposed to know anything about this.”
“No way,” Kate said. “If Tremaine sent other men we’re unaware of, particularly since you ‘hired’ other men to protect you, they may hit you and your father as soon as you reach his cabin. You’re not going alone.”
“Kate’s correct. We can’t risk you and your dad’s safety by letting you do this on your own. We can keep out of sight,” Mike said. “But we’ll be watching your back closely.”
“I’m going in with you, just in case.” Once Ryder learned she’d intended to meet with her dad who was on a hit list, he’d planned to stick to her through the whole ordeal.
“You weren’t supposed to know about any of this. Kate either. It was supposed to be strictly on me,” Lexi said, tears in her eyes.
“We’re not letting you risk your life unnecessarily, and we’ll keep your father safe too.” Ryder wasn’t backing down on this. He ran his hand over her arm, hoping she wouldn’t be annoyed with the intimacy. He wanted to pull her into a hug and hold her tight, to know for now she was perfectly safe. Who knew how it would go down when she headed for the cabin? After she met with her father, Ryder wanted to send some men with him to wherever he lived to ensure he wasn’t followed. Then Ryder proposed something he’d been thinking about ever since he’d learned her dad was in witness protection. “Listen, what if your father joined a wolf pack? I believe he would be safer.”
“But the people he joined wouldn’t be. And why would they want to take him in when he could bring danger to the pack?” Lexi asked.
“He’s a wolf who did a good deed—putting a murdering bastard behind bars. I can name half a dozen packs that he could join, and he’d find good protection. Two packs in Colorado, one in Montana, our pack here, to name a few. We’ve got a number of bodyguards between Rafe and Aidan, and more to call on. Your dad was in San Antonio when he was a witness to the crime, living and working there as a family physician, right?”
“Yes.”
“All right. You couldn’t go there, since Tremaine may believe your dad would return there. He could join us, but you live here. They’d make the connection too quickly. Then Colorado or Montana, where he hasn’t lived before, would be the best choice, right?”
“True. But he’s never belonged to a pack. I don’t know if he’d want to do so now or put others at risk.” Lexi was frowning, not appearing to believe it would work. Then she stiffened her back. “We need to go. Now. Before my father leaves because he doesn’t think we’ll get there in time.”
“He’s not there yet, according to Edward.”
Her face paled a little. “All right, let’s go, and we’ll wait for him.”
Ryder was concerned too. What if Tremaine’s men had intercepted her father on the way here already? And he wasn’t ever coming? What if C3 didn’t mean Cabin 3?
They walked out of the cabin, and Mike and Kate split off from them. Ryder took hold of Lexi’s hand as if he were strolling with her through the woods. The moon was covered in fog, making it appear spooky. The shadows of the trees wavered across the forest floor, the cabin lights on, as if they were still at home. He knew some of the team members would be hidden in the woods, safeguarding them, but he saw no sign of them.
The cabin where they thought her father was supposed to meet them was dark and unwelcoming. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. “It’s me, Lexi, and my boyfriend.”
Ryder smiled at her, but he suspected her father wasn’t here yet.
Then her phone rang, startling her, and she answered it. “Hello?”
He hoped it was her father and he wasn’t in trouble.
* * *
“Meet me where you found the note. I’m waiting there for you. If you don’t come within half an hour, I’ll be gone,” Lexi’s father told her.
She was elated to hear his voice, rough and gruff, warm and familiar. She missed his voice, missed seeing him, and now her heart was already beating a million miles a minute while she rushed off to meet up with her dad at the location. “I’m on my way. I’ve got bodyguards. They’re for our protection.” She couldn’t wait to see him, still fearful things would go topsy-turvy.
Her dad ended the call, and she hoped he trusted in her instincts and didn’t leave before she reached him.
She whispered in Ryder’s ear to tell him they had to return to the bear den.
“Are you sure it’s him and he’s not being coerced?”
“Yes. He’s anxious, but he would have warned me if he was putting me in danger.”
“All right. I’m letting everyone know what’s up. They’ll have to spread out and follow us because they won’t know the place we’re going to.” Ryder texted everyone as he and she booked it on the path to the footbridge that would take them to see her dad.
Thankfully, they could see well enough in the dark with their wolf’s vision that they didn’t need to run around with flashlights and make themselves moving targets, in the event more of Tremaine’s men were sneaking through the woods.
Lexi was glad she had all this muscle behind her to help protect her, but she wished she could clue them in on where her father was exactly so they could be there to protect him too. Still, she was certain her father would be armed, and he wouldn’t know they were some of the good guys.
She and Ryder finally made it to the bridge, and she heard someone behind them. Guns in hand, she and Ryder whipped around, but she saw it was just Kate and Mike. Lexi let her breath out in relief. If any of the men Rafe had sent were following them, they were staying out of sight. If so, the men were truly good at this game.
Because it was so exposed, she and the others rushed across the bridge and then she and Ryder continued to lead the way on the trail. No one was talking, not wanting to give their positions away in the dark.
Mike and Kate disappeared into the woods. If they tried to go through the underbrush, it would take them longer to get there. Unless they were stripping and shifting into their wolves. That would be perfect. They would be lower profile, and if any of Tremaine’s men were on to Lexi and her father, they wouldn’t think wolves were in on this. Plus, if her father saw the wolves, he’d know they were some of Lexi’s backup, not Tremaine’s hit men.
They continued the long hike to where the bears’ den was, and she was glad it hadn’t been raining constantly since the last time they were here. Hopefully, more of the rainwater that had flooded the area would have receded by now. The path on this side was above water. Had her father crossed the swollen creek to the other side like they’d had to do to find his note? She imagined so. He’d be more protected from anyone who might have come after him. The bad guys might not be expecting him to cross the creek to avoid them.
When they reached the area across from where the empty bear den was, she and Ryder made their way across, hand in hand, which she was th
ankful for because she slipped. He held her steady until she could get her footing. Only a few steps further, and he slipped this time, and she threw her arms around him, holding tight. She would have laughed if they’d just been doing this for fun, but she did smile up at him and he shared a smile. Then they continued on their way, his hand on hers, his grip strong as he kept her from slipping further. He seemed to have better footing the rest of the way. Two wolves suddenly appeared on either side of them, paddling across the creek. She smiled, glad to see them. Kate, and the other wolf she assumed was Mike, would help to convince her father Ryder was a good guy, not a hostage-taker. Her father would know Ryder was a wolf, too, once he could get a whiff of Ryder’s scent.
Once they reached the shore, Lexi was about to start walking north to the spot where Ryder had found the note, not seeing any sign of her dad. She was afraid they were too late, and she felt tears pricking her eyes. But then her father poked his head out of the bears’ den and crawled out on his hands and knees. Ryder immediately moved forward and grabbed his arm and helped him to stand.
Her father’s jeans, blue-and-black-plaid shirt, and hiking boots were muddy. She thought he was going to meet her as a wolf, but he must have changed his mind.
He was as tall as Ryder, six foot, and wearing a dark beard. She’d rarely seen her father wearing a beard, and it took her a minute to adjust to the look. Then he rushed forward at the same time she did, and they hugged. She’d missed his scent, wolf and man, though he also smelled of the woods and earth now.
“These are Ryder Gallagher and Mike Stallings, Aidan Denali’s bodyguards. And Kate Hanover, my personal assistant and bodyguard. They’re all here to protect me. You know the real estate mogul, Rafe Denali? He sent a Special Forces team too.”
“Good. I worried for your safety,” her father said.
Not for his own safety. He never worried about that, when he should!
“I have news, which is the only reason I had to contact you, or I wouldn’t have put you at risk in such a way,” her father said.
“I wanted to see you. No matter what the news was. I had to see you.” They were still hugging each other. She couldn’t let him go, even though her father seemed to have the same need. “What’s the news?”
“Your mother is alive.”
“What? No. Where?” Lexi couldn’t believe it. After all this time? She felt light-headed, her stomach queasy, and she was glad her father still held her or she might have collapsed, her legs felt so weak. “How did you learn of it? Where has she been?” She was guardedly thrilled. She couldn’t truly believe it until she saw her mother and was able to hug her, to know that she was real.
“She’s had retrograde amnesia. She couldn’t remember what had happened to her, and she couldn’t remember her past. She began getting her memories back. She remembered me, but she said she doesn’t remember you.”
Lexi sobbed against her father. She was glad her mother was alive but devastated she’d lost all her memories of Lexi. “Where is she?”
“She saw the news about my testimony, and that I had died. She contacted the district attorney’s office, wanting to know the whole story. After she proved who she was, they told her I was alive, but they couldn’t let her see me. When they mentioned you, she said she didn’t remember you. She’s been living with a man in Brazil all this time, and she started recalling how she was mated to me. She finally made her way back to the States.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s back in San Antonio, but I can’t go to see her. You need to. You need to bring her home. She’s at risk if she stays there and Tremaine learns she’s there.”
“We’ll do it,” Ryder said, then looked a little chagrined that he’d said anything without seeing what Lexi wanted to do about it first.
Her father turned to study him for a moment. “Yes, you’ll do. As Aidan’s bodyguard, I know you’ll do right by Lexi.”
“Mom has to see you,” Lexi said, still holding her father tight. “She needs to see you. Not just me. Especially when she doesn’t even know me.”
“She can’t be with me. Not when her memory comes and goes. She could put us all at risk.”
Lexi couldn’t believe that. Yet, maybe he was right. It didn’t change the fact her mother and father needed to be together. “Okay, then you get out of the Witness Protection Program. You and Mom join a pack. One that will protect you both. Ryder knows of several that could help.”
They heard shooting in the woods and men shouting.
“I’ve got to go,” her father said, pulling away from Lexi, but she held on to his hand and wouldn’t release him.
Lexi hadn’t realized how much seeing her father again would affect her. She didn’t want to let go of him. “We can get him out of here, can’t we?” Lexi asked Ryder, tears running down her cheeks.
“Yeah,” Ryder said, getting on his phone and texting Edward.
“All right. If we can do this safely.” Her father waited with Lexi as they crouched down next to the wolves, making for less of a target.
Ryder soon joined them, crouching down beside Lexi. “Okay, Tremaine sent a handful of men to learn what was going on, most likely assuming that with all the men we have here, you must be meeting with your dad. Edward said they killed one of the men, but they’re trained survivalists, and the rest have scattered. We need to get you both out of here safely now.”
“But how?” Lexi asked, her voice low. She was desperate to get her father out.
“We need to go another direction, back up to the place where we hiked earlier. They’ll pick us up at the campground there. They’ll pack up our things, but they’re taking us to the airport and Rafe has a helicopter standing by. Let’s go,” Ryder said. “Our vehicles will be driven back home.”
“What about our car? It’s a rental,” Lexi said. “We flew here.”
“The guys will turn it in for you.”
“The campground is a long way to hike,” Lexi said, given their current circumstances.
“Not as wolves. The men will get our stuff once they take care of the loose ends. We can leave everything in the bear den. I’m taking my cell phone with me.”
“Like a wolf with a bone,” Lexi said. “Me too.”
“Exactly.”
The three of them stripped off their clothes, and then Lexi and her father shifted into their wolves and Ryder tucked their clothes in the bears’ den, then shifted. He led the way in a different direction, and the rest of them followed him up another way to the campground.
If they’d walked as wolves, it would have taken about two hours. But they were in a hurry, so they reached it within an hour. This part was tricky. They were still wolves and had no clothes. She hoped the campers at the campground were all asleep—they should be, as it was three in the morning. Then she saw three men dressed in paramilitary uniforms heading into the woods with backpacks. She hoped they were Rafe’s men and had clothes for them. Lexi and the others moved around quietly as wolves.
A few people were sleeping in their vehicles in the parking lot, having come in too late and being unable to sign in to get a camping space for the night. Two of them lifted their heads to see what was going on.
Rafe’s men had brought some of Lexi’s and her companions’ clothes from the cabin. They quickly shifted and changed and then moved quietly toward the parking lot to a waiting Humvee. There, they loaded into it, and two of the men went with them.
“I’m Edward,” the blond-haired, bearded man said, his blue eyes considering them as he inclined his head to Lexi and her father.
“Thank you for coming to our aid. Where are we going from here? I need to get to San Antonio,” Lexi said.
“We’re going to the Crescent City Airport first. What does the good doctor want to do?” Edward asked.
Lexi glanced at her father to see what he would say.
&nbs
p; “I want to see Adelaide. My wife. My mate. She’s in San Antonio. Can you guarantee a pack can protect us?”
“No one can guarantee that, not the U.S. Marshals either, but at least you can be a wolf. You can be with our own people,” Edward said.
“But we’ll put others at risk,” her father said.
“Other wolves could use your expertise. Wolves can always use wolf doctors in their packs,” Ryder said. “You could at least give it a try. Especially if the government won’t let you be with your mate. If she lived with Lexi, Tremaine might learn she was your wife. If she was to live with a pack without you, then all three of you would be apart.”
Lexi’s father nodded. “I’d have to find a pack willing to take us in.”
“There’s a pack in Montana. It’s run by a couple of Navy SEALs. They do have a doctor, but they could always use another. There’s a pack in Silver Town, Colorado, that runs the town. They have a doctor and a clinic, and also a whole sheriff’s department,” Ryder said.
Her father’s eyes widened.
“The whole pack would protect you. They watch for humans who could cause trouble. It’s a ski resort town, used to be a silver mining town. But all the businesses are run by wolves,” Edward said.
Her father rubbed his beard in thought. “Do you have any way for me to contact the leader?”
“Yeah.” Ryder handed over his phone. “You can call Lelandi or her mate, Darien Silver. See what they have to say about the situation.”
“Thanks.” Her father took the phone from Ryder, then called the contact number for the Silvers. “Hi, I’m Kurt Summerfield, a wolf doctor who’s in the Witness Protection Program, and they won’t take my mate into the program. I’m on my way to collect her in San Antonio. Ryder Gallagher said you might be able to take us in. But we don’t want to cause your pack any trouble.” He smiled. “Yes, a family physician, and my wife is a pediatrician. But she was in a bad accident and has suffered from retrograde amnesia. She remembers me, but not our daughter… Thank you. We’ll come see you as soon as we can. Thank you.” Her father was smiling when he handed the phone to Ryder. “Thanks. They said we’d be welcome. We’ll have to see. It might not work out, but we’ll give it a shot.” Her father took a deep breath. “What about you, Lexi?”