Dark Wolf (Shadow Pack Book 1) (3 page)

“Don’t you still have subjects to work with?”

“They will not last long, sir. Most of them are crazy from being confined in cages and won’t eat. We’ve also taken too many samples in our haste, but I know time is of the essence for you. They are very weak.” The doctor hesitated. “Also, sir, the test subjects you provided are not healthy enough to live through the Change. The homeless are not missed when you take them, it’s true, but the virus I have isolated from the blood samples you provided, the one that originated the Lycanthrope mutation, is brutal. I need healthy subjects. Soon.”

“Kane is busy looking for the girl. We’ll send someone else to find some more subjects, Williams. We’ll tell some of my men to volunteer as test subjects as well. Who wouldn’t want to have these kinds of abilities?” A bead of sweat rolled down his bullet skull to embed itself in his bushy eyebrow. The naked lust in his face was frightening. “There are nations that will pay any price for this ability. Imagine, trying to fight armies of great Weres. Keep me updated with your progress. I am flying to the mountains tonight.” Ambrose stalked from the room, already a vicious predator. Dr. Williams stood still in his wake, trying to keep the slight tremble in his hands to himself. The scream of some terrible beast in agony ripped through the air again, and Williams, with a sigh, opened the door to the pens. He had work to do.

»»•««

A few moments later, Hugh Ambrose stood behind the satiny teak expanse of his desk, his bald head shining in the subdued lighting of the office. His face was a dissonant mixture of textures and color. His cruel features combined the leather of over-tanned skin with a scattering of white scars and strangely full red lips. The two thick lines that passed for eyebrows overshadowed icy blue eyes. They were eyes that could charm or kill without changing expression. Instead of one of his customary suits from his London tailor, Ambrose wore khaki safari clothes, and his feet were encased in handmade hunting boots.

He was readying to leave for an illegal hunting trip into the mountains of western North Carolina, in search of some of the state’s few remaining black bears. There were plenty of black bear trophies scattered about his home, even though he considered the endangered bears pedestrian in terms of hunting. Unfortunately, he would have to make do, as they were the closest option for big game hunting, and he could not afford to be far away from his base at the moment. His hunting partner and helicopter awaited him on the helipad. But there was something he had to attend to first.

The expanse of windows behind him showcased a magnificent view of the windswept Atlantic, the ocean alight with moonbeams. He enjoyed the best view from his office. He had designed the entire house with that thought in mind.

A heavy crystal glass filled with sixty-year-old scotch glittered on the suede desk pad. He did not offer a drink to his visitor, who stood on the other side of the desk. Ambrose crossed his massive arms in front of his chest, waiting for the other man to acknowledge him.

∙•∙

The employee who stood in front of the desk was even larger than his boss, a human brick wall whose size usually made people assume that he was not intelligent. This was a mistake. The small blue eyes embedded in the man’s granite features held a grim intelligence that he took care to veil in the company of those he didn’t trust. Kane Black trusted no one, but his loyalty could be bought, and had been purchased by Hugh Ambrose. The gray suit that covered his body was chosen with the care of a connoisseur. His blond hair was trimmed into a crew cut, and his erect posture betrayed his military background. Although usually a consummate professional, Kane impatiently awaited his master’s permission to speak. He had just completed a grueling search and a turbulent flight back to report to Ambrose in person, as his boss preferred. Kane was beginning to get annoyed.

Ambrose’s stare caught Kane’s and held for a moment—the older man’s power absolute—before giving a brief nod. “She’s here in this state, sir, near a resort town called Blowing Rock. Katie is pretty sharp to have thought to hide this close to home after all of this time. It’s the last place we would look. She is a bartender at a place called the Laughing Bear. She’s alone.” Kane spoke matter-of-factly, not wanting his boss to see his dislike just yet. He didn’t bother to mention the wounded wolf or the girl’s suspiciously large “uncle.”

“Of course she’s sharp. I raised her.” Ambrose turned his back on the other man to stare out of the window. His sausage-like fingers twitched as if they wanted to strangle some small helpless animal. “Good. I would hate to find out that she had taken up with someone who I would have to kill.

“Close. I can’t believe she’s this close. I figured she would stay out of the country, but then—she probably knew I would think that. Tell the good doctor to be ready out on the island. Take her immediately. I want her now.”

Kane felt a frisson of disgust for this intemperate man to whom he owed his livelihood, but he was trapped by his own complicity. If the old man ever discovered that Kane had developed the annoying beginnings of a conscience, he was a dead man. His first transgression was when he purposefully relaxed the guard on his boss’s stepdaughter, allowing her to slip away.

Kane would play along, for now. To be a team player at this junction meant only one thing.

“Sir, I think it might be wise to wait a day or two. The powers that be are watching you very closely. And there is the meeting to think of.” Kane referred to the upcoming meeting in which Ambrose, one of the world’s most ruthless arms dealers, would be selling shares to the highest bidder in the biggest development in modern warfare since gunpowder.

The large vein that crossed Ambrose’s temple began to pulse. Spittle flew across the desk as he spoke. “I want her
now
.” He picked up the glass and took a long swallow of the amber liquid and appeared to try to get himself under control.

Kane kept his face impassive as he watched the other man’s eyes glaze over. Ambrose was once a masterful leader, but his obsession with his stepdaughter was making him weak. This blind spot of his was going to get them all thrown in jail forever. Not Kane, however. He had a plan.

Ambrose spoke again, his grip tightening on the cut crystal, threatening to shatter it. “But I hired you to tell me things like this. Watch her twenty-four seven. She
will
not make a run for it again. We do have those other issues to clear up before we take her. She will have a little vacation before coming home to the island. However, if she tries to run, take her
.
” His deep, gravelly tones cut off abruptly, and Kane took his leave, the silent dismissal implicit.

∙•∙

Ambrose set the glass down with a
thunk
. His main weapon if they were caught abducting his stepdaughter was her well-established instability, which he had taken great pains to publicize in the past. The police had been very helpful the first few times she escaped from him, returning his poor deranged stepdaughter, who claimed Ambrose was a monster. But with the present problems his organization had with the law, the police might not be as forthcoming. They might actually believe the little bitch.

Another of Ambrose’s annoyances was his racketeering trial, which was weeks from being over. Beating the rap was a certainty. Both the judge and several members of the jury had been properly intimidated into servitude months ago. Nevertheless, one had to keep up appearances, and it would not do to be busy kidnapping and holding his stepdaughter prisoner while he should be in court.

Things were getting busy. He knew from experience that his spirited little Katie was going to take all of his energy once he had her back in his grasp. She would not be spirited for long. This time, he would break that spirit to fit the mold he needed her to fill. There would be no more gentle persuasion. For now, let her think she was safe. As long as another man was not putting his hands on
his
property, he could allow her some time. Katie and her amazing gifts would belong to him and him alone soon enough.

David awoke in a sea of warmth, which was startling because the last thing he remembered was running in wolf form through the woods, followed by a blinding pain in his head. He saw a gas fire, turned low, burning in the fireplace, and he lay on his side in a nest of blankets and towels, nude.

An intoxicating scent suddenly hit him and he tensed. His eyes cleared a bit, and he realized that he knew the stone fireplace. It was the fireplace of his rental house. He rose up on one elbow to survey his surroundings, and then realized something soft and warm was pushing against his bare cock, making him hard. He started again when he discovered that a beautiful, firm behind, barely covered with a scrap of pink silk panties, was spooned into his larger body. A perfect fit. He looked down to his right and beheld the golden vision that was Katie Duncan, asleep beside him. She wore a red flannel nightshirt that was half unbuttoned and pulled up on her flat belly. One dark pink nipple peeked out, beckoning him. In a daze, he realized he had been curled up around her on a soft pallet of blankets in front of the fireplace. And he was wearing nothing but a glittering stare. This was one hell of a wet dream.

The wolf part of his spirit roared to life at the sight of her, making his blood hot and thick. Inexplicably pulled to her, he leaned over her sleeping form, but then he pulled back. The need to mate had never been stronger. He craved her touch, to slide his hands over her body, caress her stomach and breasts, to slide beneath those silky panties and roam through the soft curls of her pussy and stroke the lips of her warm slit. The primal spirit within roared as he leaned over to stare at the hollows of her neck. Still dozing, she began to respond to the pheromones he had to have pouring out of his body. Still sleeping, she responded by writhing deliciously against the hardness of his body. Both were trapped in that seductive space between the gray clouds of sleep and the bright light of wakefulness. Half-awake, he wrapped one arm around her and tried to shake the sleep from his brain.

∙•∙

Lightning in a snowstorm.
Katie awoke with her body on fire, imprisoned by a wall of man-flesh against her. The large, rough hands that held her fast sent painful impulses of lust along her nerves to her clit. She was on the verge of imploding if she did not get what she craved. She
needed
the large pulsing cock that was now rubbing against the thin fabric of her panties, demanding entrance. A palpable heat, hotter than lava, suffused her senses as she rolled over to face him. She sank her tongue into his mouth and ran her hands over the hard planes of his back muscles. As she tasted him deeply, she lowered her hands to grab his ass and push herself into him with as much force as she could muster.

Now a little more awake, she groaned in ecstasy, and then suddenly she was wide awake.
What the hell? This man should
not
be able to move with his injuries!

“Oh my God…please…stop. We have to stop!” She spoke in a husky whisper, trying halfheartedly to push him away. A part of her mind shouted,
Are you nuts?

∙•∙

Forced fully awake by her thoughts and by the low growl that came out of the back of her throat, David’s head snapped back. His gaze met her huge, startled golden eyes. Thoughts careened through his mind. What was he
doing?

He rolled away from her and rose to his bare feet, his naked erection standing tall, while she sprawled amid the blankets, trying to catch her breath. He sucked in huge gasps of air, pausing a moment to get his inner animal under control. With a silent howl of frustration, his wolf self went back into its metaphysical cave. Pain seared through his head, and he reached up to finger the rapidly fading scars on the back of his skull.

“What the hell happened? What am I doing here?” he growled, his deep Scottish burr made all the more thicker by his nervousness. He tried not to think about the consequences if she had seen him going through the Change. There were other wolves that would kill her to keep their secret, especially with the recent events that had inflamed the Were community. What was left of his clan had a strict code of honor, and he feverishly prayed his secret was safe as he examined his tenant, whom he had come dangerously close to ravishing. He was shaken to the core. His body had never responded to a woman with such passion, and it took all of his control to not throw her back down on the floor and take her by force, something he had never done before and damned well would not start doing now.

∙•∙

Katie arose from her crouch on the floor to stand fearlessly in front of him, breasts still heaving underneath her flannel nightshirt, brows knit together in annoyance. He was acting as if she had attacked him. “My God, do you actually have a Scottish accent? What romance novel cover did you escape from? There’s no need to bark at me. I did save your life. But from the way you woke me up, I think you have the idea that I owe
you
something.” She threw the blanket she held in one hand straight at him, smacking him in the chest with it. “Would you mind covering up?” She turned to start picking up the mess on the floor, pointedly ignoring him. “I don’t suppose you have any recollection of how you got tossed into a snow bank buck naked?” Her voice was heavy with a sarcasm she did not feel. The tall, predatory looking man stood behind her as she worked. Katie could feel his dark eyes boring into her body, and it was a pleasurable sensation.

She stood again to face him. He looked aggravated.
Welcome to my world, asshole.

“You didn’t seem to mind what was going on. You were going at it as heavy as I was.”

She gathered the pile of linens in her arms and marched toward the suede couch where a cedar chest doubled as a coffee table, her head high and proud. “I thought I was dreaming, you jackass. Now sit down in that chair before you fall over, and let me check that head wound.”

“That won’t be necessary—I’ll have it looked at later,” David replied in an imperious, lord of the manor voice. He was tall, too tall for her to see his injury. “And for your information, I thought that I was dreaming as well. When I wake up with a beautiful woman in my arms, I usually have one reaction. You know, you didn’t have to be lying beside me. I think I would have survived alone. What happened to me? How did I get here?” He stalked across the room to seize a baseball cap off the coat rack to cover the gash on his head, obviously trying to appear as if he were not on the verge of falling over. Despite his arrogance, he did appear to be woozy.