Beneath a Blood Moon (76 page)

Amber blinked. “Seriously?”

Richard leaned forward, resting his forehead against the back of the driver’s seat. “She did. Because she did, I was able to do it, too. Sara’s a deviously clever woman. Why the hell does she have a fully automatic? I pulled the trigger and was not expecting to empty the entire magazine.”

“You’ve seen them before, Richard—I thought you would have recognized it.”

“I was a bit distracted,” he confessed, his face reddening to a brighter shade. “I’m actually impressed I hit him, though it was pretty much point-blank range.”

Amber laughed. “It’s the only gun she qualified with. She can’t hit the broad side of a barn at point-blank range with a Beretta, but she can speed swap four magazines with unerring accuracy with the Glock. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it. She flinches and closes her eyes like the Beretta is going to rip her legs off and feed them to her. With the Glock? She’s all business.”

“Wait. If all of you are armed, and with Amber here I bet you are, why didn’t you just shoot him yourself?” Richard demanded.

“We were going to, but he was too close to you and Sara, and with you drugged with wolfsbane, I was worried you’d turn on her,” Nicolina admitted, staring at the floor. “We were waiting for a good shot.”

“Why the hell were you pawing up my shirt anyway?” I demanded.

“I knew you had been with Amber, and where Amber goes, guns follow. I figured she was going to corrupt you like she corrupted my Nicolina, and if she had, there was a good chance you had a concealed weapon on you
somewhere
.”

“If I had known Nicolina had come pre-corrupted, I wouldn’t have corrupted her further,” Amber stated before bursting into giggles. “You have me there. We
almost
made it to Alaska before I caved and decided I had to arm Sara and make sure Wendy got some time in at the range.”

“Don’t tease him too much about it, Sara,” Nicolina said. “He’ll wallow in guilt for weeks over this, I’m certain. He’s completely hopeless when it comes to wolfsbane. Hell, we have the pack trained to give him orders not to obey anyone except Frank, Alex, or some other responsible adult whenever he’s drugged with it. To make matters worse, it could be a week or more until it wears off.”

“That long?” I narrowed my eyes at Richard, smiling as I considered what I could do with him for the next week. “Interesting.”

Richard’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, Richard. I’m pretty sure that while you’re Nicolina’s mate, you currently belong to me, and you must do as I say.”

“No, please,” he whispered.

“We’re down to maybe twenty minutes, folks,” Amber warned. “How long to ice the runway, Nicolina?”

“With this much snow around? Five minutes—less if we can find a water truck and hose.”

“Five minutes will work. Richard, go move the plane so they think the runway is clear.”

Richard sighed, opened the door, and slid out, careful to rest my mate’s feet back on the seat. “On it.”

“What do you want me to do?” I demanded.

“Cuddle your mate and keep him company. I’m going to scout around and see if there’s anything we can use to blow them sky high.”

“Jet fuel’s flammable, isn’t it?” I asked.

Nicolina and Amber stared at me.

“It is,” Nicolina replied. “Very much so.”

“How much is left in the plane Richard flew?”

Amber opened the door and yelled, “Hey, Richard! Check the fuel levels in your bird, and tell me how much is left when you finish parking it.”

He lifted his hand in acknowledgment.

“A real job, Amber. I want one.”

“For now, keeping your mate warm and comfortable is a real job. I’ll think of something, even if it’s unloading your magazines into the plane when it touches down—or into anyone still moving once they’ve landed. I’m regretting I didn’t bring any of the full-sized magazines to give you more ammunition.”

I frowned, staring at my sleeping mate. “What if he wakes up?”

“I suggest you figure out how to control him and quick. While turning him loose against the traitors would be ideal, I’d rather not end up as his dinner.”

 In a way, I was relieved when everyone left me to prepare for the arrival of the second plane. While my mate slumbered, being able to touch him and reassure myself he still breathed helped. My awareness of my father’s death haunted me.

Manipulating Richard into murdering him left a bitter taste in my mouth. In my cowardice, I hadn’t even looked at my father’s body. Biting my lip, I leaned over Sanders and breathed in his scent, closing my eyes to steady myself.

The tentative touch to my cheek startled me so much I launched myself towards the front of the truck, dislodging my mate from my lap in my haste to escape. He yelped and hit the floor. I made it halfway up before I got stuck between the seats, one of my feet trapped beneath Sanders with my knee twisted at a tear-inducing angle.

“Sara,” my mate breathed, and grabbing hold of my waist, he pulled me back. I went limp, torn between whining from embarrassment and laughing my relief.

“You’re supposed to be asleep for hours,” I complained, swallowing until the feeling of something lodged in my throat eased. “You startled me.”

“I thought I was dreaming,” he murmured, and lacking his usual finesse, he climbed back onto the seat and settled me on his lap. “Where have you been, you devilish little bitch?”

“I’m armed and dangerous,” I warned him, and before he could reply, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his.

I liked Sanders’s kisses far more than Richard’s, even if Yellowknife’s Alpha had a nice mouth.

“That’s a nice way to be greeted,” he said, cupping my face in his hands. His words slurred into each other, although I was able to understand what he was saying. “I have a feeling I should ask where we are, how you got here, and what’s going on, but I don’t think I’ll like the answer.”

“I told you we were going to a resort in Alaska,” I replied.

“That doesn’t explain how I got here.”

“It seems my father kidnapped you and Richard. He made Richard fly the plane. It was my job to lure him out here so we could deal with him, and he brought me two males as presents. I graciously accepted both. I ordered Richard to kill him, which he did. He’s drugged on wolfsbane right now, and I own him. If I’m nice, I’ll let Nicolina have him.”

“I don’t remember a thing,” he complained, sighing and resting his head on my shoulder. “All I remember is going to Desmond’s house. Something surprised me, and I don’t recall anything after that. Waking up was nice, though.”

“The others are trying to figure out how to crash a plane,” I said.

Sanders lifted his head to kiss my cheek before taking a look around. “I could swear this is my truck.”

“That’s because it is your truck,” Wendy said, poking her head in through the door. I squealed, twisting around to face the Fenerec. Laughing, she shook her head. “Relax, Sara, or Amber’s going to take away your gun privileges. How are you feeling, Matthew?”

“Sleepy,” he replied. “How are you, Wendy?”

“Better now that you’re awake—about six hours ahead of schedule, according to Richard. Judging from his reactions, he’s so doped on wolfsbane he’s feeling no pain at all. I doubt he’ll remember any of this tomorrow, and he’ll probably be dancing to Sara’s tune for a week and a half.”

“Poor Richard. Is this really my truck? How the hell did it get here?”

“I stole it,” Wendy replied, grinning at my mate. “I also stole the blanket from your bed so Sara could have something with your scent all over it. You may have to fight her to get it back.”

“She can have it so long as she shares with me,” he replied.

“Smooth, Sanders. Very smooth. Think you’re up for a walk? We’re almost done preparing, and Amber sent me to fetch your mate so she could play her part.”

“What’s your part, Sara?”

My mate’s worry marred his scent.

I opened my coat and showed him my Glock. “I qualified!”

“That’s a Glock 18, and she’s absolutely vicious with it. Never, ever give her a Beretta or any other reasonable weapon because she’s got terrible accuracy, but give her that baby right there, and she’s as good as Nicolina or Lisa,” Wendy said. “I didn’t see it live, but Amber showed me the recordings.”

“Glock 18,” my mate murmured, shifting my coat out of the way so he could look at my gun. “What’s special about it? It’s a gun.”

“It’s a fully automatic gun with enough recoil to knock your teeth out if you’re not ready for it. It’s light for a fully automatic, but it still makes the Beretta feel like a toy in comparison. Amber let us all fire it while you were napping at the range, Sara. Come on. I’m afraid we don’t have a gun for you, Sanders, but you can stand by your mate and growl at anyone who gets too close. You are not invited to play.”

“What are you all doing?” he asked, glaring at Wendy.

“Hunting,” I informed him in a tone that allowed no argument. He kept quiet.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Nicolina caught sight of my mate, and with a happy cry, she ran to him, threw her arms around his neck, and locked lips with him. Scowling, I crossed my arms, considering whether or not I wanted to rise to her challenge.

Deciding it was fair play for having kissed her mate, I ignored her, turning my attention to Richard. He met my gaze, his eyes narrowed and rimmed with yellow.

“Don’t even think about it, Mr. Murphy.”

“I don’t know, Sara. Let him think about it—hell, you should think about it, too. She’s enjoying herself way too much. Actually, I’m astonished she even considered kissing some other male right in front of her mate. She’s usually far too shy to even imagine it let alone execute such a plan. Nicolina, maybe you should stop now. She has a bigger gun,” Lisa said, linking her arm with mine. “Please don’t kill my sister.”

I was pleased with the way my mate fought to break free of Nicolina, his face turning a deep shade of red. “Nicolina!”

“He said I could,” she retorted, turning to Richard and blowing him a kiss. He scowled, turning his head to stare off into the snowy wilds of Alaska.

“Reluctantly, if my guess is correct,” Lisa replied. “I apologize for her, Sanders. It was payback for Richard pawing all over Sara in front of her while she couldn’t do a thing about it.”

“It was payback for
what
?” my mate demanded.

“Long story,” I evaded, slipping free of Lisa to grab hold of my mate’s hand. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Why don’t you tell me now,” he suggested, and while his tone was mild, his scent had an acrid bite to it.

Wendy hugged my mate, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Wolfsbane, Sanders. Richard’s really heavily drugged with it. Her father ordered him to please Sara, and it seems Mr. Watson had some unfortunate—and incorrect—beliefs about Sara. Of course, my darling son-in-law isn’t to be underestimated, as he took the opportunity to search her for concealed weapons. He only stole one or two kisses, and she was rather dismayed about the whole thing. Maybe it really would be fair if Richard was allowed to give Sara a proper kiss, and not that half-assed one he gave her.”

Sanders scowled, drew in a deep breath, and sighed. “Where is Watson, anyway?”

Approaching me from behind, Amber opened my jacket, shoved the material out of the way, and pulled my gun out of its holster. She checked the weapon over before returning it to its proper place. “Richard didn’t realize her Glock is fully automatic. He pulled the trigger, and he was angry enough he held it—not that you need to hold it long to empty the magazine. I’m afraid Mr. Watson is very, very dead. You didn’t see him, did you, Sara?”

I shook my head.

“Good. It was messy,” Amber replied. “Nicolina dealt with his body. He won’t be bothering either one of you again. All we have to do is clean up the rest of the mess.”

“What’s going on?” my mate demanded.

“An operation you may watch, but unless someone ruffles a hair on your mate’s head, you will not be participating, Mr. Sanders.” Jabbing my mate’s chest with her finger, Amber straightened to her full height, staring him in the eyes. “Am I understood?”

While Sanders wasn’t showing as many symptoms as Richard, he must have still had wolfsbane in his system, because he growled, “Yes.”