Desert Hunt

by Anna Lowe

  Her stomach twisted and rolled. He’d promised, all right.

  Jed would never stop coming after her. He would never give up. Coming from another man, that might have been touching. With Jed, it was terrifying.

  Instinct told her to flee, a plan her wolf was all on board with.

  Let me out! Let me run!

  Although she’d been wishing for her wolf’s help, she reined the urge in. Running would only set off the chase instinct in these wolves. From the looks of it, Jed had assembled a gang of young males cast out from their home packs. They would have been kicked out when they were still immature and manageable. Now, though, they had filled out—like Jed—becoming formidable fighting machines. Jed’s vision of taking over Colorado’s North Ridge pack might be less suicidal than it first seemed. She could see it now: Jed had probably promised each of these vigilantes leading roles in his new pack if they helped him overthrow Greer, the pack alpha. Even for rogues, the call of a pack was strong.

  So was the call of the chase. If she ran, they would follow, bring her down, and… She didn’t want to think about the rest.

  Jed, though, seemed excited about exactly that. “Hey, Sunshine. Why don’t we play? You run, we chase.” The wolf to Jed’s left licked his chops, and Jed grinned. “Where I come from, brother, we share our prizes. She’s mine, but if you’re good, you can have a taste, too.”

  Rae’s stomach folded in on itself. Jed had learned one trick too many from Greer, that greedy brute. Neither of them was half the man Zack was.

  Then she cursed herself. Why did Zack pop back into her mind? She had banished the thought of him. Or tried to, anyway. Zack had betrayed her. He was as bad as the rest.

  She could only count on herself. So, how was she going to get out of this mess?

  Run, the wolf said.

  She tested her ankle, finding the pain gone. Either it was only a twist, or her accelerated shifter healing had already gone to work. The ankle would hold if she ran.

  Fight, her heart cried.

  Talk, logic urged.

  “Look, Jed, we need to think this through. Are you really going to take on Greer with four wolves?”

  He grinned, his teeth flashing white in the night. “Who says I only got four?”

  Her heart sank as three more wolves slunk out of the shadows. Seven wolves—eight, with Jed.

  Despair seeped into her shoulders, and she wondered if she should give in and hope Jed took it easy on her. Maybe later, she would get some chance to escape.

  “I know, I know,” Jed crowed. “You’re impressed. Old Jed is finally moving up in the world. And you, Sunshine, are climbing right along with me. So, get moving! We got our trucks parked a couple of miles away.”

  “Right, climbing,” she murmured.

  More like descending the steps to hell. Her mind spun, looking for some way out. The minute she let these wolves close ranks around her, her chances of escape were nil. It was eight to one, with more arriving any time because the Twin Moon wolves were after her too. Soon.

  Her heart jumped on the idea. How soon?

  The Twin Moon wolves would fight these rogues off, which would suit her just fine. But then what?

  Before she had the chance to think out a plan, her wolf tore out of her skin and started to run in the direction of the ranch.

  In an instant, they were after her—eight baying wolves already lost in the thrill of the chase. She could make out Jed’s scratchy tenor among the others. He sounded delighted with his mate’s cooperation in a bit of fun.

  Well, she didn’t want any part of it. Her legs pounded the dirt as her eyes picked out the best path through the scrub ahead. Jed and his gang were running for sport, but she was running for her life, and that kept her three lengths ahead.

  For now, at least. She hammered up the slope she’d come flying down earlier. It was hard going over loose scree and rocks, but she made the most of her lead, kicking back all the loose material she could to hinder those in pursuit. One wolf, though, was making steady progress up a parallel route and slowly closing in. The crazed gleam in his eyes and curled lips identified it as Jed in wolf form. His claws scuttled over rock as he launched himself in her direction. It was only a burst of speed, together with lucky footing, that allowed her to jump clear.

  Whoosh! His outstretched paws swept the air an inches behind her.

  Jed cursed into her mind as he fell back into the rhythm of running.

  Rae’s muscles wailed with each desperate step she heaved up the final yards of the slope.

  Close—so close!

  The flat edge of the mesa was right there. Once she reached it, she would gain precious seconds if freewheeled down the other side before Jed followed. And after that?

  Damned if she knew.

  Forcing her screaming muscles to obey, she threw herself over the rise—and immediately dove out of the way of two wolves hurtling up from the opposite direction. One was blackish-brown, darker than night. The other, a familiar deep brown.

  Zack. A wave of relief came over her even as she tumbled. Zack would help.

  Her body ground to a halt against a boulder, but the impact hurt less than the thought that followed.

  Zack had betrayed her. She could never trust him again.

  Behind her, the wolves crashed together, and the night exploded with sound. She had never heard roars so fierce and outraged, not even back in Colorado, where fights were a regular occurrence.

  Run! Instinct screamed in Rae’s ear as she rolled to her feet. Let them fight while we get away.

  Three shaky steps later, she petered to a stop.

  Zack and Ty had come for her. She couldn’t run and leave them to fight her fight, could she?

  On the other hand, they hadn’t really come to help. They had only come to claim her for their pack. Whichever side won the skirmish splitting the night behind her, it would all be the same in the end. She would be nothing more than the spoil of war.

  Zack is not the same! her wolf insisted, shuffling around so that she faced the fight.

  One trembling step after another, she crept toward the action at the crest of the hill, fighting herself every inch of the way.

  Zack and the other wolf—it had to be Ty, given his coloring and the intensity of his glare—were firmly planted on a stage-like rise of the mesa, taking lethal swipes at the wolves attacking them. The two of them were an army to themselves, so big and angry that the air around them wavered. One of Jed’s gang was already down while another dragged himself out of the melee. The others jumped in and out of range. Zack roared in an outraged tone that she would never have imagined coming from him. He batted away an attacking wolf with one broad paw and followed up with jaws that flashed white.

  The next time they flashed, they were red. Rae gulped. Three down, five to go. Could Zack and Ty do it?

  Her eyes swept over the battlefield and counted again. Four—she could only find four other wolves. Where was the other?

  The air pressure by her left ear squeezed and shook, and she spun to find Jed, leaping in to force her back against a boulder. He’d snuck around the others and cut in around the rear.

  Come on, Sunshine. He smiled. Let’s go.

  Even at the height of the fight, the man was grinning. She could feel him forcing his words into her mind.

  You and me, Sunshine. Just like old times.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Rae stepped back. There were no old times.

  Jed’s growl became a snarl. Come now, Sunshine.

  I will never come with you!

  With one angry swipe, her claws ripped his shoulder, opening four parallel gashes just deep enough to stoke his anger.

  The growl turned low and deadly as Jed faced her, his tail slashing the air like a saber. You are mine.

  He lunged for her, and she sprang away, scrambling to a landing. Jed paused, wild-eyed and bristling as she bared her fangs.

  I love it when women play with me, he chuckled.

 
She wondered how many women had suffered at his hands. How much pain would he inflict on her if he won? The fact that Jed wouldn’t kill her was a small consolation.

  You have a twisted definition of play, she growled, backing toward a boulder. She needed some point of orientation in this crazy night. Jed stood before her and at least another half-dozen wolves battled just out of sight at her back.

  You are sick. She all but spat the words out.

  His grin bent into a frown. And you are mine.

  I will never be yours!

  She’d barely formed the words when he leaped. Dodging at the last minute, she hoped he would crash into the rock. But Jed twisted and roared, catching her haunches in his front paws. His claws scraped along her ribs, trying to get a grip.

  All mine, Sunshine, he growled. The threat drummed from her ears to her desperately calculating mind.

  She wanted to scream for a miracle burst of adrenaline to heave the brute away. She tried dragging herself free, but Jed was too heavy. With a push and a grunt, he worked himself higher, shouldering her into a roll. An instant later, he had her pinned and clacked his ivory fangs in her face.

  All I have to do is bite, bitch, and you will finally understand that you are mine.

  He lowered his muzzle, going for her neck. She could feel the sappy drip of saliva work its way through her ruff even before his teeth scraped along her skin. Either he’d gut her there and then, or bite clean and deep in a mating bite that would bind her permanently to him. Either way, there would be no escape.

  She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and pretend the horror of it away, but she forced herself to act. Even death would be better than a lifetime of abuse. With a mighty kick, she raked the claws of her back leg along his belly, drawing blood.

  Bitch!

  Jed pulled back to study the wound. When he looked up again, his eyes were sheer malice, and she knew it was the end. She opened her jaws in defense when he came back at her, but she knew she couldn’t win. He slammed her back onto the earth, knocking the wind out of her lungs, and took up position over her throat.

  Mine! His hot breath burned her skin.

  Rae writhed in a last act of defense before the inevitable bite. Behind Jed’s looming body were the stars. So beautiful, so far away. She closed her eyes.

  There was an explosion of sound, a tussle, and suddenly, Jed’s weight was lifted away. Instinct brought Rae to her feet, and she would have fled if she hadn’t been disoriented by the eruption of sound and shape before her.

  Jed and another wolf were wrestling on the south side of the ridge, just steps away from her. His opponent was a mighty wolf with a satchel-brown, dun-tinted coat. Half coyote, half wolf.

  Zack. Rae knew her heart was foolish to swell at the sight of him, but it did anyway.

  Jed launched a counterattack, howling his rage, and there was the sickening rip of flesh as Zack staggered. A moment later, he battled back in a burst of energy that drove Jed to his haunches. The wolves scrambled for each other’s throats, boxing and slashing until they broke apart, then crashed together again.

  It was a fight of finesse and calculated blows versus raw power, each wolf briefly gaining the upper hand before the other wrestled it away. Jed rolled, using his greater weight to take Zack with him, and Rae let out a scream. No!

  Zack’s face lit briefly before folding into a snarl, and he pushed Jed back with strength he shouldn’t have possessed. Then he was on top of Jed, jaws held wide.

  It was over in a splash of crimson and a garbled cry. Rae swayed on her feet, not sure if it was relief or fear that was pounding through her veins. Jed was dead.

  That moment was her chance at escape, but she found herself rooted to the spot, eyes closed, waiting.

  Waiting for what? part of her mind screamed.

  She forced her eyes open at the sound of footsteps and a growl. Zack’s power preceded him like a battering ram, and she found herself flopping belly-up in submission. A moment later, he was hovering over her throat, just as Jed had, with his clover green eyes wide and hungry.

  Zack’s scent hit her, and for a moment, she saw everything that could have been. A home. A future. A good life with a good man.

  A betrayal.

  She closed her eyes, wishing the past three weeks away. There was a time when she’d trusted the man inside that wolf, even wanted him. And dammit, part of her still wanted Zack. But she would never submit to being claimed against her will.

  Every muscle in her tensed as she twisted her head away, gasping for one final breath of freedom. Zack’s breath heated her neck, and behind him, the darkness of the night pressed in.

  Ten seconds passed, and then ten more, and still neither of them moved. She was vaguely aware that the fight between the other wolves and Ty had settled into ponderous silence, but that barely mattered now. She kept her eyes shut tightly, waiting for the end.

  But it was a gentle hand, not pointed fangs, that ran over her throat. A human hand that traced a light line along her neck. She blinked and found that Zack had shifted. Somehow, he’d taken her with him, because her wolf had slipped away, leaving the woman pinned under the man. A man hanging his head so low, his hair brushed her chest. She froze, trying not to breathe.

  Zack made a choked sound then slowly backed off her and lurched to his feet, heaving her up with one hand.

  She swayed. Zack’s face was a mess of blood and indecision. When he reached out for her, she jumped out of reach.

  Shame shadowed his face. I didn’t want any of this to happen. I only wanted you.

  Rae didn’t know if she’d read the words in his face or in his mind, but there they were.

  I only wanted you.

  Her eyes stung with tears she refused to set free. The two of them might have remained standing there all night like two sad statues had an engine not sounded in the distance. Ty came over the ridge, still in wolf form and red around the muzzle. His ears pointed toward the sound. Behind him, all was silent, telling Rae Jed’s rogues were vanquished.

  The wolves threatening to steal her soul were gone, only to be replaced by two others who threatened the same thing—and a rapidly approaching third. Would it be the old alpha? Would Ty claim her now? Or would he drag her back to the ranch and force himself upon her right there?

  A motorcycle roared up: Zack’s Harley, with another man in the seat. It was Cody, Ty’s younger brother, looking uncharacteristically grim.

  He nodded to Rae in a curt greeting then quickly yanked his eyes from her naked body to Zack. The four of them stood there in silence even after Ty blurred back to his human form.

  She waited. Surely Ty would make some proclamation now. After all, he was the pack’s future alpha.

  But it was Zack who moved first, stepping to the motorcycle and pulling the key from the ignition. The warrior in him was back; she could see it in the square of his shoulders, the clench of his jaw. But he was a weary warrior who’d lost sight of his cause. With a grunt and a jerk of the chin, he ordered the other men to back away.

  To her utter surprise, Ty and Cody only hesitated briefly before complying. For that moment, at least, they ceded rank to their packmate.

  When Zack faced her, his face was limp in defeat even though he stood on the scene of a triumph. He mimicked a toss then threw Rae the key. It came arcing to her in slow motion, as if the world was decelerating on its axis to give her a chance to think.

  Zack was giving her his bike.

  Zack was giving her her freedom.

  Zack was letting her go.

  She reached out and fisted the key in one hand. Freedom. Her emotions swung somewhere between elation and grief.

  Zack leaned over the bike and pulled something from the saddlebag then laid it across the seat. He stepped aside, holding his hands up as if she had a gun pointed his way.

  “You’re letting me go? Why?” Her voice had never sounded so raspy and unsure.

  His lips moved, though no sound came out. It was his eyes that said i
t. Because I love you.

  A memory said the rest. You know, that corny line. If you love something, set it free.

  She looked out beyond the desert to the pulsing lights of the highway. She was free to go anywhere she wanted, to forge her own way.

  Her heart thumped. The only place she wanted to be was here, with him.

  Then she gave herself a stubborn shake and remembered: she was supposed to head far, far away. East—that had been her plan. The outside world and her future, lay just over there, where headlights were streaking by. Meanwhile, Zack stood nearby, watching her as if she had her finger on a grenade.

  With a gulp, Rae made her decision. So what if it made her miserable for the rest of her life? Snatching the flannel shirt Zack had laid out on the motorcycle, she buttoned it hastily over her torso. It smelled just like him, dammit, fresh and musky and true, as if all the power and the harsh beauty of the desert had been woven into the fibers. The shirt was just long enough that she wouldn’t be arrested for indecent exposure once she got on the highway and made her escape. From there—well, she’d wing it.

  With every muscle screaming in protest, she threw a leg over the motorcycle, kicked the engine to life, and roared off, forcing herself to look forward, not back.

  No looking back, she ordered herself. Too late now.

  Rae. Zack’s whisper carried on the wind, half plea and all heart.

  She gunned the engine and rode on, tears streaming down her face.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Zack forced himself to watch his mate speed down the bumpy trail and across the flats, the sound of a receding engine all too familiar to his ears. He stood long and utterly silent, following the single light until it paused on the edge of the highway, then merged and was swallowed up by the rest.

  Gone. Rae was gone.

  This is where his sense of honor got him: on the wrong end of a dust cloud, with his destined mate speeding out of his life. He vaguely registered a faint sound and wondered if it was his heart shattering, muted by the flesh and fibers in between.