She slipped, nearly going to her knees and the wolf moved next to her. Instinctively, she caught herself on his shoulder. “Thanks.” She levered back to standing, letting go and moving as far away as fast as she could.
She still couldn’t wrap her tired head around Aaron’s transformation. If it weren’t for the fact that she was physically almost at the end, she would think this was a dream. But dreams were never this cold, this tiring, or this real.
They were almost to the cabin when Aaron’s ears pricked forward. He darted in front of her, forcing her to halt.
“Hey!”
His ears flicked toward the cabin and she paused, listening. She could just catch the muted sound of voices. She bit her lip hard.
Possibly male. She couldn’t tell what they were saying or how many there were. The wolf nudged her backward into the brush. It was difficult to move, but she forced fear-frozen limbs to move and hide on the side of the trail. The wolf melted into the woods.
Gwynn waited in the cold, lonely silence.
It seemed like an hour, but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before the wolf came back and nudged her away from the cabin, back the way they’d come. Close to the Y, he shifted again. “There are two men. They’re here for you. And they’re pissed.”
“What’s going on. You never explained what’s going on!”
“Sh. Lower your voice.” Aaron’s face was hard. “We don’t have much time. We need to get back to the Jeep and get out of here.”
“Wait, you have a Jeep?” The now ever-present anger surged again. “You could have driven me back to town yesterday?”
“Keep your voice down.”
Gwynn counted to ten before whispering, “I’ll keep my voice down, but I need an explanation. Now.”
Aaron put his face right next to hers. He was close, too close. His mouth almost touched her ear and her traitor body reacted, sending exciting messages humming down her nerves. Damn, she was screwed up. How could it be that after all his betrayal she could still want him?
“My grandfather lost a piece of land that connects our property with the back range of the national forest. We need that land. Leon wanted to sell it to developers. Condos right next to us would be a disaster. He wouldn’t sell it back at first, but then the market dived, the economy sucks, and now he can’t get rid of it. But by then he knew it was important to me, and he’s been holding it over my head while he waits for the market to come back. Leon finally said he’d sell it to me when he asked me to watch you.”
“Go on.” She hadn’t thought her day could get any worse. She was wrong.
“I thought he would let you go. Your dad owes a lot of money and Leon wants to scare him. But your dad isn’t paying up, and this morning Leon changed his mind. Now Leon wants to hand you over to a friend of his, for the money.”
Her stomach twisted. “You’re a thug. A gangbanger.”
“Gwynn, you have to believe me. I’ve never done anything like this for Leon before. I only pick up money. My size and muscle are scary enough that everyone pays up.”
“You work for a loan shark.” Gwynn backed away, straight into a tree. She held tight to trunk, her nails digging into the bark. “I can’t believe I trusted you.”
Aaron’s voice rose. “No. That’s not me!” He took a deep breath, dropping his voice again. “My grandfather was devastated. He was desperate, and so was I.”
Nausea swamped her.
Aaron was the muscle for someone who planned to sell her for her father’s debts. How could she have fallen for him? How could she not have known at some level he was rotten?
“Look,” he said, “let’s get to the Jeep and somewhere we can talk. And I’ll explain.”
“All right.” She didn’t have any choice. She would go to the Jeep but the second they were away from the criminals—that was the second she’d be gone.
AARON WISHED GWYNN had stolen his shoes when she’d fled. His feet were tough, and his high metabolism kept away the frostbite, but the continuous cold was an added misery to his guilty conscience and bruised heart.
He broke a path through the deep snowdrifts, working his way through the trees and around the edge of the property until they were within twenty feet of the road. A black SUV blocked the drive to the cabin, standing between them and the shed. But that wasn’t Aaron’s real problem. His real problem lay in convincing Gwynn he wasn’t a criminal and that he’d never meant to harm her.
It hurt. Man, it hurt. Her lack of belief, her lack of understanding of his motivations and actions hurt like a car wreck. The ache almost pushed him to violence.
He felt betrayed. Just like when he’d decided to go after the land and the pack had kicked him out. After it had been swindled out from under his grandfather by Leon, and the law had let them down, he’d seen no choice but to join the organization and wait for an opportunity to get the ranch back. But the pack didn’t see it as a viable option, so he’d gone rogue.
The misery of separation from his pack was like a muscle ache he’d gotten used to. Not this thing with Gwynn. The anger and pain she wore like armor deflected every effort he made to talk to her, and it was driving him crazy. His wolf hummed under his surface, driving him to keep trying.
He needed her to talk to him. He needed to make her understand. He needed to claim her.
The Fever coursed under his skin like an extra pulse in his blood. He’d almost lost control when he’d leaned in close to her, whispered his confession in her ear, smelled her scent. He wanted to throw her down in the snow and plunge into her and sink his teeth in her neck. Take his mate.
But she was still in danger.
And she didn’t want him.
The awareness of the threat to Gwynn held the claiming fever at bay. For now. But he had no idea when it would burst forth from its dam and rush over, engulfing both him and Gwynn in its heat.
Rehashing the situation wasn’t helping. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be so absorbed in Gwynn, he’d make a mistake. He couldn’t risk that. He’d caused Gwynn enough trouble.
He focused on the cold, on his feet, on the danger, anything to get his mind off of the alluring scent coming from his woman.
“Okay, on my mark we’ll sneak down to the shed. I’ll work the padlock, and you keep a lookout. Once I’m in, don’t wait. Get into the Jeep as soon as you can.” From their vantage point behind the trees, he could see a short way up the drive where it curved to the cabin. There was no sign of Leon’s men.
“You have the key for the Jeep?”
“There’s an extra set hidden in the shed.” He wanted to hug her tight, reassure himself she wasn’t going to disappear, but he knew she wouldn’t bear his touch. He growled under his breath with frustration. He couldn’t lose her now. Not when he finally had his property back. Not when he could finally get back into the pack.
Everything he’d ever wanted was just within his reach. He couldn’t stop now.
He eased out from behind the tree. Once out in the open, he moved fast to the shed and twirled the lock. Forty-five, twenty-two, six. He tugged. It didn’t open.
Damn. Nick should have replaced the rusty thing. He should have replaced it, but he was saving every penny to pay off the land. He started again. Forty-five, twenty-two, six. He’d reached the last number when he heard something. His ears strained to catch the voices on the wind. Leon’s guys were on the move.
He jerked the lock. Damn, damn, damn. He spun it again. Third time better be the fucking charm. Forty-five, twenty-two. The men’s voices grew louder as they came down the drive. Aaron’s muscles bunched with tension.
Six and click. The lock opened. He ripped it off, jerking the door nearly off its hinges in his desperation to get it open. Gwynn ran into the open just as Leon’s men came around the corner and Aaron’s heart dropped.
Chapter Ten
Aaron’s eyes glazed over in blood lust and his wolf surged. He reeled his beast back, fighting every instinct he had. The last thing he nee
ded was for Gwyn to see him ripping a man in two, then she’d really hate him.
The two big guys, one more fat than muscle, stepped between Aaron and Gwynn. Aaron knew them well. They were ‘errand’ boys for the boss and exactly who he didn’t want to see. Leon had gotten serious.
Gwynn slid to a stop, her gaze darting between the men and the door to the shed.
“Hey, Bob, look. It’s Aaron Bardolf.” Chuy Gonzalez, the fat one, looked harmless, but Aaron didn’t miss the way the man’s hand hovered near the bottom of his jacket. He was armed and Aaron knew Chuy might look harmless, but he could shoot a weapon just as good as he could shoot tequila.
Aaron looked him in the eye. “Leave, Chuy, while you still can.” Aaron’s wolf wanted out, bad. Whatever expression was on his face must have been something to see because Chuy stumbled to a halt.
“Whoa, Bob, hold up.” Chuy held his arm out and Bob stopped next to him.
“Aaron, jeesh, where’ve you been?” Bob pulled his gun out, slow, his voice light. “It’s fucking freezing up here.”
Bob Gundry. Now this man was all muscle, and he could fight as well as shoot. But he wasn’t a shifter and he didn’t have a shifter’s extra speed or strength. Aaron had seen him fight and he knew he could take him. He could take them both, no problem, even without the shift. The problem was—what would happen to Gwynn while he was killing them?
“Get in the Jeep, Gwynn.”
She scuttled past the two men and scrambled in. “Come on, Aaron, let’s go.”
“What the fuck?” Bob pulled his gun and centered it on Aaron’s chest. His voice was smooth and confident. “Get out of the car, sweetheart. You’re going with us.”
“Stay where you are, Gwynn.” His voice vibrated with the growl of his beast and both men’s eyes went wide.
Chuy pulled his gun. “Mr. Leon wants the girl, Aaron.”
Aaron didn’t have a gun, but he did have his secret weapon. And it clawed to get out.
“To hell with this. They’ve got guns.” Gwynn got back out of the Jeep.
“That’s right, girl. You see, Aaron, she understands.” Bob sounded smug.
Aaron’s blood pounded harder and his vision swam. “Get back in the car!”
“Don’t yell at me!” On her way out of the shed, Gwynn reached up to the side of the shed and pulled down a shovel. “I’m not leaving you out here by yourself.”
Satisfaction flared. She was brave, she was his, and she was backing him up. But she was also too close to danger, and fear for her safety roared through him like a freight train on fire.
Aaron’s shoulders bunched with strain. With his mate so close to danger, the blood rose in his veins, pumping hard against his self-control. He couldn’t hold his wolf any longer. He felt his teeth sharpening into fangs. He was going to shift.
“Look here, missy.” Bob’s voice took on a slight anxious whine. “You’re collateral. And we have to take good care of collateral.”
“That’s right. Collateral.” Chuy’s eyes darted between Gwynn holding the shovel and Aaron.
The man likely didn’t know why his heartbeat had sped up, or why he felt the need to back up a pace, but Aaron did. Chuy’s instincts had registered Aaron as a predator.
“I’m no one’s damn collateral.” Gwynn’s voice rang out over the snow. “You get back in that car.” She took a step forward and brandished her weapon, nearly slicing Chuy’s nose. “Tell that jerk-off boss of yours that I don’t belong to Herb. He has no right to use me. And if your boss or any of you come near me, I will call the cops so fast your teeth will spin.”
The point of Chuy’s weapon moved over to focus on Gwynn.
Aaron’s lips drew back from his fangs and he growled as his skin rippled over his bones.
Chuy glanced in his direction and his face went white. “You’re done, Bardolf. You are done.” He elbowed Bob. “Come on. I’m out of here. We don’t get paid enough for this shit.”
They backed away towards the SUV. Each step should have calmed his wolf, but it didn’t. These men had threatened his mate and Aaron hungered to tear their flesh from their bones, feel their blood bursting inside his mouth.
“Leave...now.” Each word pushed through Aaron’s stiff jaw took tremendous effort. Red swam in his eyes and pounded in his head. He ran at the men and once he started he didn’t stop. Bob and Chuy scrambled for the SUV. Aaron felt wrenching magic of the change in mid-leap, his bones and muscles twisting into new shapes.
He landed on the hood, braced on all four legs and peeled back his lips. A growl erupted from his throat.
Bob’s eyes grew round, his Adam’s apple jerking up and down.
Chuy screamed. “Start the fucking car! Start the fucking car!”
The engine revved but Aaron didn’t care. These men were to be torn apart. The SUV spun its tires in the snow, and the resulting back and forth of Bob’s efforts to rock it from its spot shook Aaron from the hood and onto the ground. He was up, turned around, and racing for the vehicle when they pulled out onto the snowy road and sped off, snow and gravel spitting from the tires. Aaron flattened out into a full run.
GWYNN DROPPED THE SHOVEL. “Aaron!” For a second, she thought he wouldn’t stop, but finally he turned, and let the vehicle go. His hackles were up, his eyes crazed, but she called again to him anyway. “Aaron.” She kept her moves slow, her voice quiet.
He loped back in her direction. His lips were drawn back in a snarl and his head hung low. She picked up the shovel and kept it between them, her heart racing.
This was not the dog-like creature who had snuggled up to her only an hour before. This was a ravening beast hung in shredded clothes and denied its prey. She took a step back and he moved in closer.
“Aaron, you need to calm down. We need to go and I don’t know where the keys are.”
One beat...two. It took nearly four heartbeats before the wolf’s lips dropped their snarl and the stiff hair on his back eased flat. Sanity filtered back into his eyes, and he sat down in the snow and whined.
Gwynn’s knees buckled, and the tip of the shovel dropped to the ground. She could see Aaron inside the wolf’s eyes. Then the shifting started. She closed her eyes and swallowed. She didn’t know if her stomach would ever get used to the twisting.
When Aaron emerged, his whole body shook and his eyes were dazed.
“What’s wrong?” When she’d seen him under attack, she’d acted on instinct. It didn’t matter what he’d done, she still had feelings for him and she didn’t want to see him hurt. But now, watching him, her suspicions rolled back.
“I need food—too many shifts in too short a time.” Gwynn ran back to the Jeep and dug into the pack.
“Here.” She thrust bread and meat at him and he gulped it down in seconds. His face was still shock-white. She handed him an apple. That too was gone. Fast.
“Um, that’s pretty much all I have. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah. Give me a minute.” She watched as his color came back and his hands steadied.
She threw the shovel in the back of the Jeep. You never knew when you might need a weapon. “Give me the keys and I’ll drive.”
“No!”
She jumped. “Aaron? What the hell? You’re in no shape to drive. Or is it you just don’t want to give me the keys?”
“No, that’s not it. I’m sorry, it’s just the adrenaline.” He shook his head and blew out a breath, stripping off his destroyed clothes. “Look, you don’t know the area. Have you ever driven in the mountains in snow?”
She shook her head.
“I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” He got behind the wheel.
She rolled her eyes and tossed him the blanket. “Blanket, dude. There’s no way I’m explaining you to a cop. Yes, sir, Mr. Officer, sir. He’s not a nudist, just a wolf.” The giggle rolled out of her and it didn’t stop. Finally, she was officially going off the deep end.
Aaron found the keys and started the vehicle. His slow smile told her he was beg
inning to relax.
She leaned back into the leather seat. “Okay, where to?” She didn’t trust him, but she wasn’t sure what to do now.
“Home.”
“Home? You mean my house.” She eyed the blanket. “It’s a long drive. Maybe we should stop for clothes.”
“Not your home. Mine. And no, there’s no time for clothes. Chuy and Bob may reconsider and come back. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Wait a minute. I thought you lived here?” Her emotions swirled. “Was that just another lie?”
“I live here now, but it’s not my home.” He ran his hand through his hair. “We need to get to the pack.”
“I want to go home. To my house.”
“Not a chance. Your dad knows where you live. If we get to Fated Mountain we’ll have backup. It’s close.” He backed the Jeep out and drove onto the steep, snowy road. They took the opposite direction from the black SUV, the Jeep struggling with the snow until they hit the main road.
She’d backed him up in the fight, but he still didn’t have her trust. She had no idea what this pack thing was, but once they got even close to civilization, she was gone.
She watched the rocks and pines on the steep hillsides roll by. “I’ve been waiting for an explanation. I think it’s time. Spill.”
He took his eyes off the road and glanced in her direction. “You have to believe me. I never would have handed you over.”
Gwynn snorted.
Aaron’s face tightened. “Mike Leon isn’t the top of the food chain—he has people coming down on him too. He needs your dad’s money or he’s in trouble. So he has to do something. And I think I know what that is.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a market for women, and it’s getting bigger. It used to be that prostitution was filled with runaways and women desperate for drugs, but the business is hungrier now. It’s changed. Now they kidnap girls and women and there’s a large slave trade.”
Fated Mate: Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Fated Mountain Wolf Pack Book 1) Page 9