Dark Wolf (Shadow Pack Book 1) (8 page)

Frank’s vehicle was finally having trouble making headway through the snow. He swerved off the road to come to a dead stop in a grove of trees. Frank ripped open the driver’s side door and stepped out, pulling his clothing off in the process.

David dove out of his door and was busy stripping as well. He continued to ignore the large wound in his shoulder that had already stopped bleeding. Rather, he examined the fist-sized hole in the back of his favorite black leather jacket in disgust.

“These people are beginning to piss me off,” he said, and threw the coat to the ground.

“Good to know you have priorities,” Katie said as she walked by him to stand nearby examining the evergreens, trying not to look at the two men. Her stomach was roiling like a rapids-filled canyon. In spite of the cold, a film of sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip. She had not begun to disrobe.

“Katie?” her godfather roared behind her.

She spoke in a broken whisper. “Damn it! I can run through the woods on my own, okay?”

∙•∙

David went to the other side of the Humvee to hide his nudity and the erection that had plagued him off and on since the morning’s encounter with Katie. Luckily, the cold quickly took care of the erection problem for him. He heard the terror in her voice. “Katie, what could make you so afraid of that which is a part of yourself? What did he do to you?” The anger in his voice spilled out, a black, steaming fury, tinged with his brogue.

She was silent, but her uncle was not. “Her mother kept Katie and herself from using the Change when she realized her husband had only married her because of her wolf blood. He was obsessed with the Were people. But Ambrose blackmailed Katie with threats against her mother. He entertained himself by forcing her to Change and hunting her for sport since she was twelve years old. She was about eighteen when he realized that her mother could not bear him a son because he was not a Were. He quietly murdered his wife and kept Katie a prisoner while he had scientists examine her and experiment on her.” Frank’s voice held a glint of steel. “I had no idea my friend’s family was being used so, and I think it is high time to make Katie’s stepfather pay for his crimes. I’m going to lead them around by their noses for a while. David, you get her to Change and head over the mountain to the river below. I’ll meet you at the falls, and we’ll go to my den to regroup.”

David stood stock still in the cold, which should have been affecting him in his human form, but his fury warmed him. He bit his lip to keep from howling. As the blood ran down his chin, David looked Katie in the eye. The ruthless tone was not aimed at her. “I’ll kill him for that, Katie. You have my word.”

She ignored his promise, instead addressing her uncle. “How are you going to stop them? They already wounded David. He’s useless to you.”

The other man shrugged. “They are probably already stuck in the snow and breathing hard. There is nothing like a teddy bear the size of a Mack truck to put the fear of God into you, especially when you’re winded.” Then Frank addressed David. “Get her to safety, boy. I know that thing hurts like hell, but get her out of here.”

Frank stood bare in the snow for a second before a flash of light blinded them both. One of the biggest grizzlies ever seen stood in Frank’s place. David knew better than to protest the man’s instructions. Frank, who had lived in the area for a couple of decades, probably knew these lands like the back of his paw.

David could not resist a parting shot, however. “Aren’t you a little far south? There haven’t been grizzlies in these mountains for a few hundred years. But I guess the wolf sightings have been few and far between as well.”

The bear grumbled at him and ambled off in the direction of the advancing forces.

Weres were not known for their modesty, a side effect of having to go unclothed for substantial amounts of time. But for the first time in his life, David’s face flushed as he strode to the other side of the Humvee. He took Katie and slid her jacket and gloves off, his shoulder screaming in protest. She studiously examined the sky, refusing to look him in the eye.

Pleading with her would be useless. “They’ll be here soon, Katie. You have to Change. Your uncle is risking his life for you at this very moment. Do you want that to be a waste?” He spoke brusquely, trying to challenge her. They had barely exchanged three civil words with each other, yet he knew he couldn’t lose her. That would damage him somewhere deep inside his soul. Playing the guilt card, he continued, “And I
need
to Change. I’ll heal faster that way.”

Tears poured down her face as she clumsily began to remove her shirt and pants, her fingers ripping at the fastenings. Shots rang out behind them, sounding dangerously close. David swore. He helped her, pulling at her clothing until she stood bare in the freezing sunlight, her hair a golden cloak around her shoulders, tumbling in waves to her waist. Her eyes were scrunched shut, and she shook uncontrollably.

Trying not to notice the beautiful full breasts that peeked out at him through the fall of her hair, David took her trembling fingers into his hands and held them tightly. Now he gentled his voice. “Now. Take into yourself the wild, Katie. Take it in…what you truly are. There is nothing dirty or wrong with it, sweetheart. Please.”

Finally, she opened her eyes to meet his gaze. She nodded and stood back a step in the snow. Another flash of light blinded him, and a lovely golden wolf with reddish tones to her fur and strange golden eyes stood in her place. He smiled at the uncertain steps she took. It was clear it had been a long time since she had been in her spirit form. Another shot rang out, and several screams rang through the woods.

“It sounds like Frank is busy. We’d better go.” With another flash, he felt his wolf spirit come to life and Changed. He touched her warm muzzle briefly with his own in a promise of protection. The pull of their impending mating was stronger now. But so was the instinct for survival, so together they ran into the underbrush, him limping slightly, leaving their humanity behind.

»»•««

Norm Stewart led his men up the hill, plowing his way through the snow, eagerly looking for his targets. They couldn’t have gone far in the Humvee. They had to be on foot already. He would move stealthily up behind them as soon as they paused for breath. The girl would have been amusing to torment, but he was to be denied the pleasure of taking her himself. He couldn’t understand why the old man had such a hard-on for the little princess, but he would keep his trap shut and do his job. He was being paid very well, and that was all that mattered.

Norm had worked for years in Africa as a highly paid mercenary after being discharged from the US Navy Seals for conduct unbecoming. His new gig with the “merchant of death” arms dealer, Hugh Ambrose, had its perks, such as the decent weather of the American South and clean white women to destroy for idle amusement. But he could barely stomach answering to Kane, who had gone back to clean up the mess they had left behind them in town. Norm didn’t trust him. The too-professional Kane wouldn’t needlessly take a life and kept his troops on a tight leash.

And Norm detested Kane’s newest edict. The men were not to shoot any wildlife they stumbled on—especially large dogs or wolves—unless given the go-ahead by Kane himself. Kane clearly had no clue. Wolves hadn’t lived in these mountains for several lifetimes. Hell, Norm would be lucky if he were even able to get a shot off at a rabbit because of the proximity of the town. This was a far cry from hunting endangered big game in Africa. Norm grunted to himself. Kane was an idiot. However, no one would mind if he killed the two men traveling with Katie, so his bloodlust would be satisfied today.

He scanned the trees surrounding them as they edged upward into the woods. “Don’t follow her too far,” Kane had said. “She’ll have to come out sooner or later. I’m going to set a watch on the two roads running down the mountain they stuck this podunk town on. She’s trapped, so don’t get exotic.”

Screw Kane. The old man would appreciate a quick return of the girl. Norm vowed to take the credit for this one if it killed him. Kane’s job and paycheck would be Norm’s soon.

As he daydreamed about the reward, the bushes behind the five men exploded. A mountain of brown and silver fur materialized, moving faster than Norm ever would have believed, running down three of his men before they could get more than a shot off. Their screams pierced the air as the huge bear ripped into them before vanishing into the woods. The three downed men writhed in the snow as Norm and the other remaining man, John, were left standing. They gaped at each other, guns hanging useless in their hands.

“That was a grizzly!” John yelled, finding his voice and frantically turning in circles to survey the woods. As if that would help. The monster that had gotten a jump on five of the best-trained mercs in the business was gone without a trace.

Norm didn’t bother with his wounded men. Instead, he walked slowly around one of the frying pan-sized prints that stood out in the snow like a stop sign. “That’s fucking impossible, you idiot. It’s one hell of a big black bear.” He scrutinized the tracks, striving to look knowledgeable even though he had never seen a bear track in his life.

A spattering of blood sprinkled along the bear’s trail. Thinking the animal was weakened, Norm pulled out the exploding bullets for his.357. The bullets contained his own creative and lethal blend of PETN fused with lead azide and a pinch of magnesium dust. They would put a nice-sized hole in that creature. But he would have to be careful not to hit the bear in the head. If he blew the animal’s entire skull off, he’d ruin it for a wall trophy. Hell, nobody had said anything about not killing giant black bears, had they?

»»•««

The wintry land was magical through the eyes of a wolf. Contrary to what science had to say on the subject, wolves were not color-blind. They simply couldn’t see colors as vividly.

The connection with nature Katie felt while in her true spiritual form made the pale colors she saw precious and meaningful. She was unequivocally thrilled at the feel of the wind ruffling her thick winter coat as she padded through the snow behind her mate. In this form she could not think of David in any other manner. He was her pack leader, and her instinct was to follow without question. For the first time in years, the fear and nausea she usually felt during the Change had not ravaged her. David’s presence brought a peace to the Change she thought she had lost forever.

They leaped and ran up the mountain to stand together on a precipice for a moment, listening for the sound of a grizzly roughly the size of a sperm whale making his way toward them. The gunshots and screams had abruptly cut off only moments before, and Katie felt a wrench at the thought of Frank taking on their pursuers by himself. But she took some comfort in knowing that if in Ambrose’s own environment, Frank wouldn’t stand a chance, here in the mountains, the bear man was truly a king.

David nuzzled her ears as they stood together, an opening salvo in the mating of wolves. He probably had very little control over his instinctual actions in this form and neither did Katie, who leaned her body into his larger one. His shoulder wound was already scabbed over. Katie was taking so much undiscovered joy out of this Change, she had forgotten about his wound, but she was glad to see it was healing. With a yelp, she bounced into the snow, going downhill toward their goal, feeling her own power for the first time in years. She looked back in his direction, almost daring him to chase her. David was a magnificent specimen as a man, but as a wolf, she realized, looking up at the breadth of his chest and the magnificent pelt, he was godlike. She fancied she could see a grin on his muzzle before he launched himself into the snow beside her and playfully nipped at her ears. Together they rolled a good twenty feet in the snow before righting themselves and running onward.

She heard the falls before she saw them, one set of many magnificent waterfalls in this part of the mountains, a startling thunder of crashing crystal water breaking the white silence. She could taste the sharp metallic tang of fresh water in the air. Ahead, the ebony form of David had stopped underneath a natural shelter formed by a cluster of evergreens, thick enough that there wasn’t any snow under them. As she joined him, she saw it had a view of the falls but was still well hidden from any passersby. He indicated the spot for her with a nod and spoke into the stillness of her mind for the first time.

“Stay here and wait. I am going to go back and check on Frank and our ‘friends.’”
His voice was strong and sure in her head, amazing in its clarity.

Katie started. No one had spoken into her mind since her mother had died. It was a very intimate intrusion. Because Uncle Frank was of a different species, she could not communicate that way with the were-bear. She shook, her fears and phobias crashing back down on her. Trying to be braver than she felt, she decided this protective crap had gone on long enough.

“You’re still hurt, damn it. I am not going to wait demurely for you while you go off to defend my honor… Besides, I need some clothes or cover. I should be the one to go back.”
The fear of her stepfather hunting her for sport, added to the terror over what she had gotten Frank into, suddenly rose up in her throat, and she choked back a pained howl. She managed, however, to think sarcastically at David, and she growled out loud. Just a bit.

David wasn’t pack leader for nothing. He growled at her in return. Much louder. It shook her down to the roots of her tail.
“You
will stay here and wait. As a
wolf
. You haven’t run in your spirit form for years, that much is evident, and your inexperience could get us all killed a lot easier than my little wound.”
He walked over to her, and in a gesture that was the equivalent of a wolf hug, he placed his larger neck over hers, hanging his head down to taste her fur. His thoughts turned pleading.
“If you get nervous, you might not be able to hold your shape. Please wait here for me. I promise I will be back as soon as I can. I need you…safe.”