A Wolf’s Deception (Novella) (2 page)

Until now. And like a damned idiot he’d agreed to help the Black Hills alpha. He’d taken one look at the picture in his hands and his mouth was agreeing to bring her home before his brain had caught the hell up.

This had nothing to do with him, this was pack business. Yet…here he was.

Tressa McCray.

She was the last female he wanted to see again, but being a cold-hearted bitch didn’t mean you deserved the shitty treatment she’d apparently received while living with her mate’s pack. With her mate now dead, and a small cub to take care of on her own, she wanted to come home to her mother, to her people.

If Tressa was telling the truth—a fucking first for her—about the repressive environment they’d been living in, then leaving was probably for the best. For her and her cub.

He glanced out the window, blew out a frustrated breath.

Stop goddamn stalling.

‘Shit.’ Shoving the door open, he climbed out and made his way to the motel office.

The place was a complete shit hole, it was also unmanned. He rang the bell on the counter a few times and waited, but it seemed no one was home. Glancing back outside, he looked for any sign of the owner. Nothing.

A book sat on the desk and he spun it around, flicking it open. He’d been given the address, but not her room number. Running his finger down the list of guests, all three of them, he stalled when he came to T Reed scrawled in a familiar hand.

Reed?

She’d used his surname? Why the hell would she do that?

A black SUV skidded to a stop outside the small reception office, pulling him from his current position: body frozen, eyes glued to the coffee stained pages with
his
goddamn name there.

Gabe glanced up and the scent hit him before the driver had even left his truck.
Wolf
.

There was no sign of the staff and no sound coming from what he guessed was the owner’s apartment attached to the office. The driver’s door of the truck swung open at the same time as he slid around behind the counter.

Gabe plastered an apologetic expression on his face when the guy strode in. ‘Sorry, my man, can’t help you. No rooms available.’

The other male sucked in a breath through his nose, scenting the air. ‘I’m looking for a woman…’

‘Aren’t we all?’ He shook his head and leaned on the counter. ‘But you know what they say…a good one’s hard to find.’

The guy scowled, a low growl slipping through his gritted teeth. ‘You have a female staying here.’ He held Gabe’s gaze, letting him know without words he was aware of his hybrid status, and that this was pack business. Well, Gabe wasn’t part of any pack and he sure as hell didn’t follow their rules. ‘She has a small cub with her. We tracked her to this shitty little town and a woman at the gas station down the road said she sent her down here two days ago.’

There was no point lying. He hadn’t seen Tressa in close to four years and even he could smell her scent hovering in the small room. Not that he could have forgotten that sweet, earthy fragrance. Tressa smelled like no other female he’d ever met. Yeah, she’d been here, not long ago, and going by the look on that giant assholes face, he knew it too.

‘Your mate?’

The guy’s jaw hardened. ‘Sister-in-law.’

‘Family troubles, huh?’

‘You could say that.’

Gabe stayed where he was, all the while fighting to control the adrenalin pumping through his veins. The urge to kill the bastard in front of him was near overwhelming.

‘Yeah, a female with a kid came in here less than twenty minutes ago. She asked for directions. They headed out for dinner.’

The prick looked smug as hell. ‘Room number?’

He spun the book around and flicked through the pages. ‘12B, upper level.’

The smug grin turned sadistic. ‘Thanks. I think I’ll wait for her to get back. Surprise her.’ He climbed back into his truck then he and the goons with him moved to the other side of the car park, where the light was sparse.

Time was up.

Leaving through the front door was a no-go. The dick hiding in the shadows, getting off on tormenting a defenceless female and her cub, would be watching his every move. So with a casualness he didn’t feel, he left the office and went through the adjoining door into the owner’s apartment.

‘Jesus.’ The place smelled like sweaty ass, and the person who lived here could be on an episode of
Hoarders
. Even the back door had boxes stacked up against it. He shoved them aside. The door was locked. No key. Gripping the handle, he rattled it, testing its strength. The thing was flimsy and the lock cheap. It didn’t take much to yank it open.

There was no lighting out back and when he stepped down, the sodden ground squelched under his boots, the plumbing more than likely shot. What the hell was he walking in? Shit, the
smell
.

The air was heavy and—he slapped at his neck—buzzing with mosquitoes. As he moved closer to Tressa’s room, the faint scent of blood hit him, strong enough to reach him over the stench of what had to be a leaking sewer pipe.

Skidding in the mud, he half ran, half slid to the rear window of her room. He yanked off his jacket, wrapping it around his fist and smashed the glass. The sound of it shattering was muted, but still loud enough to be picked up by a wolf’s sensitive hearing if they were paying attention. Reaching in, he threw the latch and sprang up to the ledge. His boots crunched on broken glass as he dropped to the bathroom floor. The smell of blood was stronger now and dread crawled up his spine.

Gripping the door handle, he yanked it open.

Holy shit.

The sight that greeted him had him stalling in his tracks, frozen like a damned statue. Tressa stood naked in the centre of the room, eyes round as fucking saucers. A large lump was on the floor at her feet, covered with a blanket. The missing owner of this dump, he guessed by the scent.

Her eyes were vibrant yellow, her wolf fully in the driver’s seat. Teeth bared, she growled, her fear and anger saturating the room. Blood smeared her chin, throat and chest and she held a small child in her arms. One of her hands cupped his head, dark, soft curls breaking through her spread fingers. All he could see of the kid’s face was the side of one chubby cheek.

Lifting his hands where she could see them, he stepped closer. ‘Tressa, you need to rein it in, pull it back. Now.’

Nothing. Not a damn thing.

‘It’s Gabe. I’ve come to take you home.’ She didn’t seem to hear him and her next snarl lifted the hair on the back of his neck. The kid whimpered, burrowing deeper into his mother. ‘I need to get you to safety.’

Another snarl.

If she wasn’t holding her son, she would have shifted by now, would have attacked. That’s how far gone she was. ‘Tress, it’s me. You need to snap the fuck out of it.’

She flinched at the shortened version of her name. Only he had called her that. Her father had hated it.

The yellow bled from her irises, changing back to deep amber, and her death grip on the kid loosened slightly.

‘Gabe?’

‘Yeah.’ He moved in closer and she didn’t back up, which he took as a good sign. ‘Hand me the kid and get dressed. Your brother-in-law’s out front and I need to get you two out of here before he comes looking.’

That did it. ‘He’s here?’

Gabe nodded. That glazed look vanished in an instant and she was in motion, the boy clinging to her as she gathered her belongings.

Walking over to the lump on the floor, he lifted the edge of the blanket with his boot.
Jesus.

‘Give me the boy, Tressa. You can’t hold him while you’re getting dressed.’

She rubbed her sons back. ‘You go to Gabe now, Sawyer, so mama can get dressed. He’s a nice man. He’s mama’s friend.’

The kid shook his head, little body trembling.

She kissed him. ‘It’s okay, baby. Gabe’s a nice man. He’d never hurt us.’ She motioned him forward and he moved on auto-pilot, her words hitting their target dead-on, piercing his chest.

Did she really believe that?

He looked down at her frightened son and pulled his shit together. He’d looked after enough kids in the hybrid camps he’d grown up in to know when one had been through some kind of trauma. Seeing his mother take out the fat bastard bleeding all over the carpet had understandably freaked him out.

‘Hey, buddy.’ He glanced at Tressa. ‘What’s his name?’

Her lips trembled. ‘Sawyer.’

Gabe pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the ‘Angry Birds’ icon. Holding it out so Sawyer could see, he sent a bird flying. The little guy shoved his thumb in his mouth, but Gabe could see the corners of his lips tilt up. ‘Come here. You have a try.’

He lifted his skinny arms towards Gabe, and he took him from his mother. Sawyer held on, watching as Gabe continued to send birds flying across the screen, while Tressa ran around the room getting her gear together. Going to the side of the window, he eased back the curtain to where the Harlow pack prick was parked. The guy was getting out of his truck, his gaze trained up to the second story, towards the room he’d told him Tressa would be.
Shit.

‘We need to go.’ Her frightened stare locked on his and he held out his hand. ‘He’s on the move. Let’s go.’

Tressa let him lead her back to the bathroom. She climbed out the window and he handed Sawyer through to her then jumped out. The sound of a door splintering came a moment later. And not from upstairs.

Busted.

‘Run!’ He reached for Sawyer and she handed him over without hesitation, putting her son’s safety in his hands without a second thought. The animal in him was ecstatic by the show of trust. It recognised Tressa, had missed her, clawed under his skin to be free, to take out any threat to what it considered his.

Holding Sawyer in one arm, Gabe pulled the keys for his SUV from his pocket and aimed the fob. The lights flashed. ‘Get in.’

Tressa had kept pace with him and didn’t wait to be told twice. She climbed in his car and Gabe handed Sawyer to her then ran around and jumped in the driver’s seat. Shoving the keys in the ignition, the engine roared to life.

‘Um…Gabe.’

‘Buckle up.’ He aimed his thumb over his shoulder to the booster seat he’d picked up for the kid.

‘Gabe?’

‘What?’

‘You need to drive.’ Tressa was staring out the window at the two massive wolves barrelling towards them.

Slamming the car into reverse, he backed up then gunned it out of the parking lot. The road was busy and he couldn’t gather enough speed to put serious distance between them and the wolves following. Tressa pulled the seatbelt around her and her son and hung on to the door handle with a white-knuckled grip.

Every now and then, they caught a glimpse of one of the Harlow pack running alongside the car, following in the shadows.

‘Fuck this.’

Wrenching the wheel to the right Gabe shot down the nearest side street. It would take them to a busier part of town—more people, less places to hide—making it harder to follow in their wolf forms.

Tressa twisted in her seat, looking back. ‘You think we lost them?’

‘Don’t know. They’ll have to go back to their truck. But I won’t be happy till we’re on the open road and I can put some real distance between us and them.’

As he slowed down, Tressa reached around and half-crawled into the back so she could put Sawyer in the child seat. He could hear her murmuring to him, soothing him. He glanced in the rear-view mirror and the kid had popped his thumb in his mouth, eyes heavy.

Tressa climbed back into her own seat, but reached out to touch her sons foot, never breaking contact, making sure he knew she was there. The kid was asleep a few minutes later. Amazing. Most kids would be howling their little heads off after that.

‘Tough kid,’ he said into the silence.

‘He’s got good instincts. He feels safe.’ Her voice was soft, husky and twisted something low in his gut.

‘Here.’ He reached over and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a rag. ‘There’s a bottle of water by your feet.’

‘Right. Thanks.’ She dampened the rag and scrubbed at the blood on her chin and throat. ‘Is it gone?’

He glanced over at her, clenched fists in her lap. That long, straight, almost-black hair, pulled back off her face, allowing him a good look at her. That deep golden brown skin, those dark as night eyes.

Still as exotic—and just as fucking untouchable as the last time he’d seen her. ‘Yeah, it’s gone.’

He tore his gaze back to the road as memories came flooding back, memories better left buried. Her last words to him echoed through his head, and he fought to keep his emotions in check. The beast paced restlessly, confused. It wanted her to pet them both and couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t. With her sitting there beside him, her scent drowning his senses, he was forced to wrestle with his dwindling control.

He’d fucking conquered this, thought he’d worked her out of his system. He gritted his teeth when the beast pushed harder. He’d loved the female at his side, had craved her with everything he had and she’d turned her back on him. Fucked him over in the worst way.

What the hell was wrong with him?

It was almost as if time had stood still. The feelings of betrayal, of gut-wrenching agony was that damn strong. Her cutting words continued to echo through his mind, so fresh, he reached up to rub away the pain in his chest.

The heat of her stare bore into the side of his face and he snarled before he could stop it.

‘What?’

He sounded as pissed as he suddenly felt, which was pathetic. He didn’t know her now—shit, he hadn’t known her then—she may as well be a stranger.

‘Thank you for coming. I know after our…after the way we…’

‘I’m doing this as a favour. I agreed to come before I knew it was you.’ He was being an asshole, but right then his pride needed her to know he hadn’t come running for
her.
He would never do that, never again, but it didn’t help. Anger continued to simmer below the surface.

‘You should’ve said no and let someone else come for us.’ Her voice was tight; body stiff.

He could see her discomfort, could feel it. But it wasn’t enough, not when he was almost drowning in feelings he’d believed dead and buried.