Desert Heart (The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch Book 4) (17 page)

Something like a freight train thundered past her, and the hellhound’s weight was lifted away. She watched it arc through the air in unnatural flight. Blinked, trying to understand. Blinked again when cloven hooves appeared. Lots of them, thundering past. Her ears filled with the sound of deep, deadly squeals and grunts. So low, she could feel the bass in her bones. Curled ivory flashed and—

Yes!
her human voice cheered. Her wolf whimpered in sheer relief.

Javelinas. Wild boars.

Correction
, her wolf murmured.
Javelina shifters.
Allies of Twin Moon pack.

They were big, bristly, and angrier than a trio of charging bulls. About the size of charging bulls, too; each must have topped three hundred pounds. One charged past so close she could feel the rough hide, the whoosh of air, the rush of heat.

The javelinas were all fury, all revenge, as if the hellhound had attacked a daughter of their own kind.

You should have seen these javelinas!
She remembered Lana saying the first time they’d appeared in the ranch, years before.
Like no javelina I’ve ever seen. They were huge! Massive! All muscle. All power.

Even coming from Lana, the superlatives had been hard to believe. But she hadn’t been exaggerating. Not one bit.

The first javelina wheeled and charged the hellhound just as it found its feet. The hellhound roared and slashed with its razor claws. The boar grunted wildly and body checked it, jerking his head toward the hound’s side.

Goring it. He was trying to gore the hellhound with his tusks. Tina cheered inside.

The hilltop exploded into noise as the other two javelinas closed in, screaming their fury. They worked together, driving the hellhound toward the cliff.

Yes!
her wolf cried.
Push it off the cliff!
Not even a demon would survive that fall.

For all their raw power, however, the supersized javelinas struggled to win ground. The hellhound was far more agile and better armed. It could inflict damage across a wider radius with its claws and teeth, while the javelinas had to get suicidally near to gore their enemy with curved tusks that were lethal, but close to their heads. Only the foremost javelina seemed bold enough to try it. The other two worked as a dual battering ram, charging side by side. They had the look of seasoned warriors who knew how to bide their time, while the third gave every impression of a young buck, eager to prove his mettle in battle. He was quicker, bolder, more willing to take risks.

Too many risks? Tina winced as the hellhound’s claws raked four parallel lines into the javelina’s side. He grunted in pain and stumbled away while his brethren bulldozed in just in time.

Every thundering charge the javelinas made was met by a hellish roar, every inch won in the battle counteracted by a furious inch regained.

Jumping into the fray would be suicide, so Tina limped over to Rick and crouched over his prone form, shielding him from the kicks, the jumps, the crushing falls. She dipped her head and found his eyes. Deep, dark eyes blinking up at her, trying to comprehend.

It’s me,
she wanted to cry.
Me.

Her human side screamed to shift so that she could hold his hand, cover his wounds, murmur in his ear.
I love you, Rick. Please, please hold on.

Hold on for what, she didn’t let herself think, because he was bleeding from wounds no doctor could heal.

Her wolf side growled and kept one eye on the battle, one eye on Rick, protecting her mate.
Mine!
she roared so fiercely, the hellhound and javelinas glanced her way.
My mate!

Her incredibly brave mate, who was staring a wolf in the face without so much as a flinch. He lifted a shaky hand toward her—slowly, cautiously—and she leaned in, desperate for contact. Tentative fingers touched the outer edge of her coat, then flexed and dug closer to the skin beneath. The raging battle faded to the background, pushing everything away. It was just her and her mate. Warmth coursed between them as she willed him to understand.

It’s me. I love you. I always have.

Rick’s eyes went wide. His fingers dug deeper, threading through the thick ruff at her neck then sliding higher toward her jaw. Tina imagined him cupping her human face, stroking her lips.

I love you.
Her voice shook, even in her mind.
I always wanted you. It killed me to say no when you asked if I would leave Arizona with you.
She pushed the thoughts his way, hoping they’d somehow register in his mind.
It wasn’t you that made me say no, Rick. It was me. Me, the wolf. I couldn’t go.

His cheek twitched, and he drew in a breath so raspy, it hurt to hear.

She’d never wanted to believe in a heaven as much as she did in that moment. God, did she want to believe. That there was a peaceful, sunny place somewhere where lovers could reunite and live all the dreams they’d never gotten to enjoy in real life. A place where they’d come together in a crushing hug and never, ever be dragged apart.

But what if that place didn’t exist?

She blinked back tears and licked his arm, the best she could offer in wolf form. She eased her belly to the ground, curling around him. Shielding him from the horror of the battle, letting him find heaven in the never-ending blue sky. Even a reflection of heaven would do.

Somewhere behind her, a javelina screamed in agony. Surely, death was on the way there, too. She bent her head, trying to shut it all away. The frantic grunts, the hellish snarls. Even the baying sound that announced the arrival of her packmates, sweeping onto the scene. Coyotes, too, from the sound of the determined yips, but she shut all that away to focus on her dying mate. Nothing mattered but him.

I love you. I love you. I love you.
She whimpered it over and over. Listened to the ever-weakening thumps of his heart. Hoped for a miracle she knew would never come.

Rick’s lips twitched, but no sound came. His eyes drooped, his fingers tightened on her fur.

Behind her, the battle reached fever pitch. An eerie scream pierced the air, then faded, and even Tina had to look up at it. A dozen wolves looked on as the hellhound flew over the cliff, flailing wildly at thin air. It tumbled out of sight, and a dozen wolf muzzles dipped, watching it fall. Two javelinas hurried to a fallen third, squealing in dismay.

So much pain, so much loss. Tina looked at Rick and ran a finger over his eyebrow—yes, a finger, because her wolf had let go and allowed her human side to take over at last.

The enemy was vanquished, but there were no cheers, no shouts of triumph. Only heart-crushing grief that hung over the bluff like a fog.

Tina bent over Rick, whispering. Trying to hold herself together for his sake. If nothing else, she could give him peace.

At the first touch of her fingers, his eyes widened a bit and her name fluttered from his lips.

“Tina.”

She shushed him with one gentle finger, and he smiled.
Smiled
, like he wasn’t bleeding from a dozen wounds or lying in the dirt at death’s door. Smiled, like he couldn’t think of a place he’d rather be.

Tina.
She swore he repeated her name, if not aloud then in his mind.
I love you.

I love you, too.

The smile grew. His whole face lit up, and his lips quirked, about to say something. But then his eyes grew distant. His fingers relaxed, one by one.

Her heart thumped harder, and she dropped to his chest, listening for the beat of life. It was still there, but weak. Weaker…

“Tina,” somebody whispered. Someone familiar. Carly? Tina pushed the hands away. No one was going to force her away from her mate. No one!

“God, Tina,” another voice whispered. Lana dropped to her knees alongside.

Tina held back a growl, protecting her mate.

A wolf snuffled closer and shook its head sadly.
Tina…

Why couldn’t everyone just go away? Couldn’t they let Rick die in peace?

He won’t have peace, not like this.
That was Zack, reading her thoughts. His whisper penetrated her mind.
Hellhound wounds don’t always kill, Tina.

Her back went stiff. Everyone went stiff, judging by the shocked silence.

The bite of a demon can turn its prey,
Zack murmured, still in wolf form.

Lana pulled back, shaking slightly. “You mean…”

Tina wanted to slap her hands over her ears and scream.

Sometimes, the victim doesn’t die,
Zack said.
The strong ones hang on…

Rick was strong. She could feel his heart, soldiering on.

Some hang on with a little bit of demon poison in them, and they slowly turn. Like this hellhound. It must have been a shifter before.

“You mean…” Lana trailed off, aghast.

Everyone stared at Tina, perhaps wondering if she was going to turn into a beast, too.

Zack shook his head.
It’s rare, but it happens to those who reach the edge of death. If the power of the poison kicks in, they tip back to life. As a demon. Demons in human shape. Demons in the form of animals…

“No wonder the hellhound looked so…sick. So scrappy.” Lana shook her head.

Horrible images assaulted Tina’s mind. Images of Rick—kind, pure-hearted Rick—slowly losing his mind. Slowly going mad. Going evil. Hurting others…

No, no! It couldn’t be.

We have to finish him off
, Zack said.
Make sure he dies before the poison makes him tip back.

She threw herself over Rick’s chest. No way was anyone touching her mate!

“Tina.” A hand closed over her shoulder. Cody murmured in his softest but most insistent voice. “Tina, you have to let go.”

No, no, no!
She shoved her brother away.

“We have to, Tina. He’ll become like it.”

Bile rose in her throat.
Not Rick. Please, not him…

“We have to, Tina,” Cody went on. “He wouldn’t want it.”

Tina nearly jumped up then, ready to kick and hit and scream. But just as she gathered herself, a pair of wolves hurried in.

No!
Heather barked, pushing Cody aside.
How can you even suggest such a thing?

No!
Stef growled, flanking Heather.
How could you do that to your mate?

There was a stunned kind of silence until Cody blurted one word. “Mate?”

Yes!
Tina wanted to scream.
Yes, even your spinster sister has the right to a mate, damn it! A destined mate.

But she didn’t have to say anything, because Carly—Carly, of all people!—did it for her. “Her destined mate,” her sister said in a reverent tone that carried over the hills.

“Oh, God,” Lana whispered. “Your destined mate?”

Tina read the unspoken words going through everyone’s minds. A dozen heads shook sadly.
Poor, poor Tina. All these years, hiding her love for Rick, and now…

She gritted her teeth, ready to shift back into wolf form and fight them all away. To fight for some shred of hope or comfort amidst the horror of it all.

“Look, it’s not like I want to kill him,” Cody tried. “But—”

Wait!

Another she-wolf darted closer, ears held high in defiance. She moved in quick, flighty steps. It was Rae, urgent and edgy in a way Tina had never seen her before.

Tina,
Rae urged,
bite him!

“No!” This time, she really did scream it out loud.

“Are you nuts?” Lana stared at Rae.

Not bite to kill!
Rae barked.
I mean a mating bite!

A ripple of surprise went through the gathered pack, and Tina felt a spark jump inside her chest.
The mating bite…

A mating bite!
Rae said it again.
If it works fast enough, he’ll heal. It’ll bring him back from the edge and keep him safe.

Zack shook his head in a fierce no.
It’s a one-in-a-million chance the change will come fast enough to work
.

Tina’s eyes jumped to Rick’s face. If he weren’t so pale, she might have imagined he was only asleep. Peaceful, unworried. Unaware.

One in a million
. Zack shook his head.

Tina studied Rick, the love of her life. If he wasn’t one in a million, who was?

Our mate is strong!
her wolf screamed inside.
It could work!

“If it doesn’t work…” Cody said, still skeptical.

Heather butted him aside with an angry huff.
Would you do it for me?

“Hell, yeah,” Cody retorted. “But—”

There is no but
, Heather cut in.
She has to try
.

Try. The word made Tina cower.

You have to believe
, Rae said.

She wanted to throw back her head and howl. The bite of a wolf could kill a man—especially a strong man, whose body would resist the change.

“He’s dying anyway,” Carly whispered.

Tina shook. If she bit him and he died, she’d feel responsible forever. If she bit him and the demon venom still took over, the scenario was even worse. She’d be mated to a man who’d slowly go mad and become a demon himself.

“It’s too risky.” Ty cut in. “Better for everyone that we finish him off now.”

Lana yelped, but Ty went on.

“Look,” he said, and his voice cracked. “Tina, I wish…”

Her rock of a brother, pleading with her in that apologetic tone. In any other situation, she’d have been moved to tears.

“She has to try,” Lana insisted.

Cody and Ty exchanged hard looks then curt nods. Tina read the message in their eyes.
If it doesn’t work, we’ll rip him to pieces the moment we’re sure.

Did she really want to witness that?

You have to believe,
Rae whispered, pulling Tina’s focus back to Rick.

Mate! Mine!
her wolf cried.

She leaned over Rick’s neck, mourning already, because it shouldn’t be like this. She’d imagined exchanging mating bites with Rick in a thousand dusky dreams, but it was nothing like this. Mating should be an intimate, joyous event, not a moment of despair. It should be two souls agreeing to join as one, not one wolf forcing her way upon another.