by Anna Lowe
Zack put out his hand like a catcher’s mitt, and she hesitated. Was she ready to put a man in the driver’s seat of her life? She jingled the keys, turning the thought over like a tarnished penny.
“You have a motorcycle license, miss?” Zack called.
His tone was joking, but his eyes said, Give me the keys. And there it was again—her inner doubt. A bossy alpha was the last thing she needed.
She stiffened slightly. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
He studied her then added a lifted eyebrow. Give me the keys, please.
She fingered the jagged ridge of the key until her wolf nudged her thoughts. This man, we can trust.
She tossed the key chain to him, putting everything into a look that said, Do not betray my trust.
Zack tossed her a helmet by way of a promise.
“What about you?” She motioned at the single helmet.
He rapped his fingers on his skull, smiling. “Hard head.” Then he started the bike with an easy kick and motioned her onto the back.
With a deep breath, she slid into place. The minute she got in position—chest to his back, legs against his, arms circling his waist—the worries fled. This felt good. Safe. Right.
Home, her wolf murmured.
With a twist of his wrist, Zack revved and took off, and promise shimmered on the horizon. Maybe it wasn’t the end of a beautiful night but the start of a beautiful day. Who knew?
Rae leaned into Zack and let herself revel in every turn and every gear he accelerated through. What a car window was to a dog, she decided, a motorcycle must be to a shifter. Her worries blew away with the wind as she gave herself over to the joy of it. Judging by the swell of Zack’s lungs under her tight grip, he felt the same. His shoulders went wide and sang of the joy of an open road, of a humming engine, of a woman’s arms—his woman’s arms—around his waist.
She smiled into his shoulder blades and let her fingers strum the line of his ribs. When he revved past the spot Jed had cornered her in, she turned her head away. She would deal with her broken-down car later. And as for Jed, Zack had scared him off, right?
She wasn’t going to let anything ruin this day. And she was damn well going to stretch it out for as long as she possibly could. Why rush back to the ranch?
But the phone vibrated in Zack’s pocket when they hit the highway and turned south. Several times, in fact, in what seemed like a series of urgent messages. He pulled over at a roadside diner, took it out, and scowled.
“Shit.”
Maybe hiding out at the cabin forever hadn’t been such a crazy idea after all.
What? She wanted to yell the question. What did the message say?
He glared at the display, glanced at her, then back at the phone. His fingers tightened around it so hard she thought the housing would crack.
“Zack?”
A cloud passed over his face before he punched the phone off for good. Let them wait, those green eyes said, screaming defiance.
What was going on?
He stomped into the diner, pulling her with him. “Breakfast.”
It wasn’t so much an invitation as a declaration, the taking of a stand. Never had she seen the alpha in him come that close to the surface.
But he’s holding the power back, her wolf said. Holding it back, just for us. See what a good mate he would make?
She squeezed her lips together but didn’t protest.
“Coffee?” she asked cheerfully.
“Coffee,” he rumbled.
They sat down and lingered over every bite of pancake, every sip of coffee. And if their movements were mechanical at first, the tension gripping Zack’s shoulders gradually unwound. Like the storm that had come and gone last night, his mood moved on, and blue skies followed.
Literally. She got back on the bike and tipped her chin to the sky, soaking in the sun. Zack drove under the speed limit, no more eager than she to get back to the ranch. They’d barely gone twenty miles down the road before he pulled over at a scenic overlook where they went straight from taking in the view to taking in each other’s lips for another happy minute, or an hour. With him, it was easy to lose track of time.
“This is beautiful,” she murmured at last.
“This is nothing,” he said, and his secret smile hinted that he knew a better spot.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long into the last stretch of road before he swung the bike off the highway at an unmarked juncture. They bumped off-road for half a mile before dismounting and walking to a field of boulders in the shade of a bluff. He pointed to swirls and lines etched into the rock.
“Petroglyphs,” she murmured, tracing the air a millimeter above the rock. “Navajo—I mean, Diné?”
He shrugged. “Nobody knows. But there’s a feel to this place.”
She closed her eyes and tuned in until she felt it—a vibration in the air, like an ancient chant. The whisper of the past. His past?
She opened her eyes on Zack. Coyote, Diné. White man, wolf. Zack had a little of everything in him, and she loved it all.
She stepped closer and hugged him, reaching for his lips to taste what she’d seen. They kissed until their arms started to wander and their tongues reached deeper, when Zack broke off with a start.
“Not here,” he whispered, moving away with her hand firmly in his.
Apparently, it was taboo to get heated up in a place as sacred as that. Rae followed her lover silently downslope. A few minutes later, Zack pulled her into a sycamore grove.
“Here,” he whispered, picking up where he’d left off.
His hands explored her body, firing every nerve into action, until they’d both stripped and made slow, sweet love as only two destined mates could. By the time the sun was low and they made their way back to the bike, Rae was sure.
Mate. Mine.
She waited a moment for some inner voice of protest, but none came. Those words sounded just right.
Those words are right, her wolf decided.
She could have laughed at herself. There she was, hanging on much tighter than necessary as Zack motored down the highway. The tables had turned, because she wanted to possess him. To keep him, to care for him, to share good and bad and everything in between. And if he wanted to possess her the same way, well, that was a good thing. Especially if he shared the same feeling settling over her now: the one that had her swearing she’d do anything for him.
She closed her eyes and let the wind brush her face. Maybe she didn’t have to sell her soul for a man. Maybe she could free it.
“Zack,” she called softly, but the wind dragged her voice away.
She wanted to make him pull over so she could tell him what she felt. But they’d already made so many stops and whittled the day away… It really was time to get back to the ranch. The minute they got there, though, she would follow Zack home to his cabin and make sure it was lonely no more.
She smiled into his back, because a day had never been as perfect as this one.
She only snapped out of her thoughts when they rumbled over the cattle grid beneath the ranch gate. Zack’s entire body stiffened, and her head popped up to take in the scene. Two words sounded in her mind, and the voice that spoke them was his.
Oh, shit.
Chapter Eighteen
Zack drove straight into a maelstrom more intense than the lightning storm of the previous night. It was in the air, in the guarded faces that greeted them, and in the strange sense of anticipation that cramped his shoulders.
He rolled the motorcycle to a stop. What was going on?
Ty pushed away from where he’d been leaning against the council house, studying the sky for some sign from the gods or some miraculous means of escape. Either would have explained that weary look on his face. When Ty brought his chin down, Zack saw those dark eyes flash between him and Rae.
Whenever Ty was worked up, his eyes packed the power of a punch. And while he was certainly worked up—the set of Ty’s jaw was always a dead giveaway, along
with his telltale scratching of an ear—tonight seemed different. His eyes mimicked the steady swing of a clock pendulum, solemnly winding up to the hour.
Bong.
The pendulum swung left, and Zack felt that gaze bore into him.
Bong.
It flicked to Rae.
Another silent tick went by, then another heavy bong. Ty’s gaze went back to Zack.
Make sure none of the guys dick around with her. The words of the pack’s future leader echoed in Zack’s mind.
When Ty’s gaze swung back to Rae and his nostrils flared, Zack knew he knew. For all that the whipping wind had scoured them on the ride back, the scent of sex remained.
Part of Zack wanted to fold up and slink away, while another part wanted to stand tall and beat his chest. Frozen between the two, he waited for Ty’s eyes to ignite, sizzle, and spit. He waited for the pendulum to morph into the sweep of an angry tail on a very ferocious wolf.
But the light in Ty’s eyes fizzled away. They only sparked again when old Tyrone stomped over, his eyes overflowing with the rage so strangely absent from his son’s face.
When the old alpha’s eyes jumped to Zack, he had to fight the instinct to stumble backward. Then those eyes shifted to Rae and went suddenly neutral. Calculating.
Zack looked at the way the old alpha studied Rae, and suddenly, it all clicked.
Rae. A Mistress of the Hunt. A legend reborn.
A legend said to bring prosperity to the lands she tended.
His pulse throbbed through his veins. Somehow, the old man had found out Rae’s secret—or he’d known it all along.
Rae hadn’t come to the ranch as casual help. She had come to be studied. Verified. A pack that claimed a huntress among its ranks would boom and prosper. She would bring prestige to the pack—and to the family she mated into.
The old alpha’s eyes flicked to Ty, and Zack’s heart sank to his boots.
Rae had been brought in to be mated to the alpha’s son—Ty.
“Where the hell have you been?” Old Tyrone snapped. His head jerked toward the door of the council house. “Inside, now!”
Everything in Zack screamed for him to bundle Rae onto his motorcycle and get the hell away. To rev the engine higher than he’d ever done and race far, far away. But his feet were already shuffling to the council house, pulled by Tyrone’s fury and sheer force of habit. His whole life, he’d obeyed the alpha, and habit was a hard thing to break, even with his soul howling inside. It was his duty to serve the pack.
To hell with duty! his coyote cried.
Rae gripped his hand as she moved toward the council house, even though she looked like she wanted to run. Her eyes grabbed his, begging him to keep her secret.
Warn her! Save her! his coyote screamed. Tell her the secret is already out!
His wolf, though, had its head down. Duty came above everything else. Everything.
The moment they crossed the threshold, Tyrone slammed the door shut behind them. Then he stalked to the front of the room then spun on his heel. Ty took the spot on his father’s right, looking empty and defeated. On the left stood Cody and Tina, the alpha’s younger offspring, their lips tightly sealed, clearly wanting no part of what was about to transpire. Beside them stood three of the pack elders, all cronies of the alpha.
Zack knew he had to speak up first, to grab the momentum from the old man. He had never asked the pack for anything, as if he’d been saving up all his wishes for now. For Rae.
He opened his mouth to start, but the old man butted in first.
“You never leave pack territory without permission. You understand me?” he jutted a finger at Rae.
Her lower lip trembled, but she threw her shoulders back and spoke out when any sane person would have withered and crawled away. But that was Rae: brave, ballsy, insistent.
“I didn’t leave the territory. I was just exploring.”
“You do not go anywhere without my permission. Do you understand, woman?”
Rae held her chin high as the alpha waited for her to submit, her arms crossed in defiance, though trembling.
“Not without my permission—or your mate’s,” Tyrone continued.
Rae froze. Ty went stiff. Zack’s wolf howled inside. A long, mournful howl that echoed through his soul.
“I don’t have a mate,” Rae half-shouted, beating each syllable for emphasis.
“You will tonight.” Tyrone jerked his thumb at Ty.
“No!” Zack growled at the same time that a choked cry popped out of Rae’s throat.
“But I don’t love him!”
“You’ll learn to love him,” old Tyrone retorted.
“But I don’t want him! I want…” When her eyes shifted to Zack, everyone else’s followed.
His lungs pinched as he faced her, straining to catch her next words.
I want you, he thought and waited for her to echo.
But her pupils went wide and she shrank away from him, uttering one word.
“You.”
It wasn’t the end of a sentence. It was the beginning of an accusation. She trailed off, disgust and betrayal filling her eyes.
“You knew. You told them.”
Knew the alpha’s plan? Hell no! Told them her secret?
“Never!” His roar went right through the walls of the council house and out over the far corners of the ranch.
“You’ve done enough!” The old alpha cut him off with a stomp that made the floorboards shake. “And you,” he barked at Rae. “You should be grateful!”
But her eyes were still on Zack. Her cheeks were crimson, and her lips tremble with unuttered words. Then she gave a vicious shake of her head and ran out the door.
“Ach,” the old alpha grunted. “She thinks she can run.”
When Ty moved to follow her, something in Zack snapped. He stepped in front of the alpha’s son, blocking his way.
Ty blinked then made to weave around Zack, who sidestepped and put a hand against his friend’s chest. He’d had enough. Enough of the old alpha’s bullying. Enough of the easy way out. He’d never defied the alpha on anything, never asked for any favor. But it was time to take a stand. Rae was his, and his alone.
Fire began to build in Ty’s eyes, and he took hold of Zack’s wrist. One flick and Ty would break it.
Then again, one shove and Zack could send Ty stumbling back. They were at an impasse.
“Don’t,” Zack growled.
Old Tyrone pushed forward. “Get the hell out of the way! My son has a mate to catch!”
Zack couldn’t hide the emotion. “She’s mine!”
The air in the room trembled the way it would in the split second before the snap of a whip.
“You challenge my son?” The old alpha’s face twisted into something between anger and glee.
Challenge Ty? The pack’s future leader? His friend? It was the last thing Zack wanted. But when he considered his choices, he came up empty. He couldn’t step aside and surrender Rae to Ty, and he would never convince the old alpha that love should preside over an advantageous match. A huntress mated to the pack alpha would strengthen the old man’s bloodline with powerful offspring.
But Jesus, did the thought make him sick.
The air shifted, carrying a whisper from far, far away. You are a powerful alpha, too. The pack would still benefit.
If Zack stood a little straighter at the thought, it did him no good. The old alpha had been waiting for an excuse to get rid of Zack for years. He would never back down now.
Ty could be reasoned with, except he was a dutiful son who would never, ever cross his father. That was his sole weakness; it always had been.
“She’s mine,” Zack repeated, meeting the old man’s brutal gaze.
“She’s his!” Old Tyrone said, reaching out for his favorite spot on the back of Zack’s neck.
Zack smacked the old man’s hand away, and the room went deathly quiet. “She’s mine.”
“A fight, then.” Tyrone all but rubbed
his hands together in glee. He might not have orchestrated this turn of events, but he certainly would capitalize on them. “To the death!”
Zack saw Ty’s eyes slide shut. He wanted a fight as little as Zack did. But what choice did he have?
“Uh…” Cody’s voice had all heads turning in his direction. “What about her?” He jabbed a thumb at the door that Rae had fled through.
The old alpha huffed. “Let her run. We don’t need a tracker to catch her.”
“Catch her?” The mercury in Zack’s internal thermometer pushed at the limits of his self-restraint.
“She should have a choice,” Tina protested.
“She made her choice when she came here!” Tyrone’s bellowed, and the room went still.
Still but for the whisper in Zack’s head. She would have chosen you, if you hadn’t fucked this up.
He pulled his hand away from Ty’s chest. “A fight, then.”
Ty’s eyes locked on his. “A fight.”
The old alpha snickered behind them, as always, grabbing the final word. “To the death.”
Chapter Nineteen
Images and words hammered in Rae’s mind as she ran for the hills. Somehow, she had to escape.
Mate?
Ty?
Tonight?
Old Tyrone had been serious. Worse, he expected her to be grateful. If she hadn’t been running full tilt, she would have kicked the ground.
Sabrina, the spoiled daughter of the Westend alpha, was the type to be grateful. Sabrina would do anything for power, just as her father Roric would do. She would even agree to a strategic match, as long as it came with prestige.
Rae stumbled as realization set in. She hadn’t been careful enough in Nevada. Someone must have discovered what she was doing on her solitary nocturnal jaunts and deduced who she was, then sold the information to Roric. He, in turn, had sold her to Twin Moon pack.
Who knew her secret? The faces of possible culprits jumped through Rae’s mind and only one stuck. The alpha female at Westend was a distant relative of Rae’s father. Could she have known what line he had mated into?