Savage Smoke (15 page)

“You’re a beautiful creature, Jasmine,” Olivia said. Jasmine winked and ran off. Olivia revved the snowmobile, following as close as possible.

Trevor

They all shifted to human-form, standing in the shelter of the trees under the cloud cover and snow filtered mid-morning light. No movement, no sound, nothing came from Smoke’s pack site. With Chance pointing at each, Dir, Damen, and Trevor, to take a different direction, they dispersed.

Any other time Trevor might have enjoyed running naked in the snow, but today his heart stuck in his throat, tremors of need waded through him and it disgusted him. Fine hairs of Lindsey’s arousal flitted in the air and struck him like a baseball bat to the head. It lured him on to a snow-covered deck. Trevor opened the door of a small cabin. Lindsey’s scent poured over him. He stood paralyzed. Damen shoved past him.

“Is it your primal-mate’s scent in this room?” Damen stomped around, looking through drawers and across tables. “Well, it’s everywhere if it is.”

Trevor struggled, wanting to smash Damen’s face in and not understanding why. He stepped into the room. Her scent blasted against him, touching, spiraling from every direction. He stopped in the center of the room and instantly grew hard for her.

“Arousal isn’t going to get her back,” Damen shot. Chance walked in right then or Trevor would have nailed Damen. Chance glared from one to the other, gaze dropping to notice Trevor’s state.

“What’d you find in here? Anything useful?” Chance asked.

“Only that this must have been where they kept Lindsey. Her fragrance fills the place,” Trevor spat. Anyone with half a nose could pick up the arousal interspersed in Lindsey’s scent.

“Well, it just might be her smell that carries us to where everyone went. For some reason, it’s the only one uncloaked. You don’t suppose she ran off before the others?” Chance looked thoughtful. “It’d explain why her scent is the only one we can pick up.”

Dir walked in just then. “Lindsey’s trace loops around this cabin and goes off into the forest from the backside. There’s so much snowfall, tracks are pretty much covered. But, I think there’s enough of her aroma to hold us on the trail.”

“You don’t think this is a trap, do you?” Damen stared at Chance, then at Trevor.

Trevor still wanted to punch him.

“Her scent outside is at least a day old, if not longer. Human female scents in the big building are only hours old. They saturate the inside, but there’s nothing outside. So, I’m betting they used the camouflage drug, Total Eclipse, on them,” Dir stated.

“I took in most of the perimeter. Saw no one, but I caught Lindsey’s tang as well,” Chance added. “I say we go wolf and follow it. But no pack-communication. None. Is that clear?”

“Gotcha,” Dir answered. He moved away from the door and everyone filed out of the cabin. Trevor couldn’t wait to get out and go wolf-form to hide his arousal. This capture would be the hardest for him and yet the most wanted. He needed to know which side of the fence Lindsey would choose so he could finally move on. Stagnated was a bitch.

Chance led, the others followed directly behind. Trevor rallied along last. He knew if this were an ambush, they’d most likely strike the end first, and if Trevor had any say, those rogues would not survive. But he knew Chance would do the right kind of capture, hand them over to the Lycan Elders Council for judgment and punishment.

His pack-mates stopped, fanned out alongside Chance. A stream, not too wide by the looks of it, but Lindsey’s trace either went in to the stream or crossed it. Dir broke apart and ran North beside the water. The rest waited for a while until he returned. He jerked his head for the pack to follow. Chance took off on a run, and they all lined up behind at the same pace.

The snow wasn’t so deep along the stream and once in a while large-sized wolf tracks or boot prints appeared like ice sculptures. Wind picked up and blew against Trevor’s snout. Snow swirled around him. It looked like the sun got lost in the western sky when it dropped behind a mountainous cliff. He ran into the ass-end of Damen. The beastly wolf turned around and gave him the stink-eye.

Trevor ignored him, walking up beside Chance to see why they stopped. Wind coming from the north must have cut off their scents to the three rogues one hundred yards in front of them and on a cliff twenty feet above them. The rogues stood in human-form, talking.

Their words carried on the breeze as if via speaker. Trevor noticed Chance and the others stood with heads tilted, listening also.

“Smoke set up here for at least tonight, until those females turn or die trying.” The rogue spat over the edge of the cliff. “We take the survivors and move on tomorrow. If it wasn’t for the full moon tonight, we’d be out of here now, but no time.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”

“Wait and watch, is all Smoke said. He knows they’ll never find us here, but he wants us on alert anyway. So, who wants to take first watch? I figure we only need one of us on the ledge, two inside, and one casing the area around us.”

“I’ll take first watch around the perimeter.” In an instant he shucked his clothing and went wolf-form, bounding toward them, down a narrow trail etched in the rock wall.

Trevor automatically crouched and backed away. Dir, Damen, and Chance all did the same. They moved backward as a unit until they reached a safe haven behind the tree line. Chance directed each of them to move to cover, his intention clear, they would surround and take the rogue out when he came near.

Chance stood in his path, hair on his neck and back bristled, his mouth flashing fangs in a snarl. Trevor stilled in ready-form, waiting for the rogue to take the bait and charge. Seconds ticked by, mostly because the wind held their scents at bay. Finally, the rogue saw Chance. Growling, jaws snapped and he stretched his gait into full speed toward Chance, who stood his ground, crouched and ready.

Trevor sprang into action, as did Dir and Damen, to reach the rogue before he touched their Alpha. Damen and Dir caught his back legs, Trevor’s jaws clamped around his neck, but Trevor lost footing. His body went down. The force sent the rogue into a head-first tumble, Trevor along for the ride, his jaws still clutching the underside of its neck. Dir and Damen lost their grip, but ended up within the roll. They all came to a halt in front of Chance.

Trevor shook his head, unburying his fangs from its furry neck and realized the rogue’s head bent forward at an odd angle, his neck broken. Chance nudged Trevor and then nodded. The dead rogue’s body shifted into human-form and Dir and Damen dragged it away, hiding it farther in the forest.

Trevor and Chance moved to higher ground, above the cliff where they’d first seen Smoke’s pack mates. They crouched low. A much clearer view showed them a cave opening covered in pelts and no watchman standing guard outside. Looks like the others didn’t take much heed to guarding the cave entrance. Trevor lifted his head and sniffed the air, so did Chance. A fire. Trevor scanned the area. Curling smoke rose out of the ground, it came from inside the cave. They both stepped carefully over the ground of what appeared below as the ceiling of the cave, but neither could see much around the smoke. Trevor got a thread of Lindsey’s scent, but it didn’t come across as fresh.

Low sounds of lust, murmurs and groaning, came from below, without any scents of arousal attached, which meant they did use Total Eclipse, plus most likely Startem, and were still under their cloaking and stimulation affects.

Chance bumped into Trevor’s side and then jerked his head to move away. He followed Chance away from either opening of the cave. Chance shifted to human-form, so did Trevor.

“I don’t think Lindsey’s inside that cave,” Trevor whispered.

“Neither do I. So I’m wondering if there are other caves in this area. Smoke might have her in a different spot, away from the others.” Chance appeared deep in thought, eyes narrowed and his brows practically met over the bridge of his nose.

“What?”

“Have you thought about the fact Lindsey may also be going through a shift tonight?” Chance’s gaze met Trevor’s. “I think it’d be best if you were with her if it happens. In fact, we all should be there.”

Trevor turned away. He knew the possibility was there, but didn’t want to believe it might happen without him. If it did, he’d never get her back. Chance had been lucky with Olivia. The whole pack surrounded her, inducting her with the pack ritual. It saved her from Smoke, or she would have been lost to her primal-mate, like Lindsey might be already. Not through shifting, yet, but through preference.

He’d never be able to move on if he didn’t know the truth. If Lindsey still loved him, he needed to know it.

“So what’s our plan?” Trevor twisted back around, ready to find his primal-mate. Dir and Damen came up behind them and shifted to human-form.

Suddenly, scuffling sounds came from below. They heard someone on the cliff ledge in front of the cave, and two others followed. Damen moved forward. Chance gripped Damen’s elbow, shaking his head and signaling with a finger to be silent and still.

“Krass isn’t checking in. Did either of you get a read on him?”

“Shit, Vin. Do you think he ran off? He’s always threatening to do that. Maybe he finally got balls enough to go for it.” The rogue chuckled.

“Rotten timing. Take a run and check him out,” the third directed.

“Fuck, no, Brawn. You go. I’ve got a few more holes to fill before the females shift.”

“Landor, it’s your turn. My cock’s on fire, hard as a rock, filled to the rim and ready to spew. It ain’t lookin’ for a run,” the one named Vin said.

Trevor heard them scuffle, and then it stopped.

“Krass will be back or he won’t, I say we all stay here and get our fill. Smoke didn’t seem too worried about anyone finding us,” Vin spoke, and they all shuffled back inside the cave.

Chance backed away. Trevor and the others followed.

“Must be Smoke isn’t in there or heads would be rolling about now without guards set up,” Chance whispered. “Smoke has to be close, and it appears he might have Lindsey with him.”

“We still have some daylight left. Let’s take a quick check of the area for any signs of life,” Trevor responded.

“Be on the lookout for metal-jawed wolf snares. We ran across a couple in the underbrush when Damen and I hid that rogue. They might have set up a perimeter of those damn things. Looks like they are tipped in silver.”

“Warning noted, Dir. Trevor, great idea for a short search. I have a feeling Smoke will show up once the moon’s high in the sky. He wouldn’t want to miss out on the females shifting,” Chance spat the last of it out, his look murderous. “And be wary of where you step.”

Trevor, Dir, and Damen all looked at each other knowing Chance hated what was about to happen. Hell, they all hated it, but, now it was too late to save those human females from the inevitable. All they could do was hope their bodies were strong enough to make it through. Being high on Startem might alleviate some of the pain during their first shift. Bones breaking, bending, reshaping, was an excruciating pain for humans, and if they fought it too hard, their bones, muscles, and organs wouldn’t complete the shift-cycle. They’d die instantly in a half-wolf half-human form, looking like a creature from another planet.

Chance moved down the backside of the ridge serving as the cave roof. He shifted into wolf and ran north. Trevor and the others shifted and followed their Alpha.

A knot formed in Trevor’s belly and coiled up his throat. He needed to keep his anger under control until he knew if Lindsey still had feelings for him. If she did, Trevor wouldn’t stop making Smoke pay in pain. He loved Lindsey and was done living without her.

After Smoke left, Bliss climbed out of the pool, steam rolling off her rosy flesh. She walked over to Lindsey and plopped down on the blanket. “What’s going on with Smoke? Does he have mind control?”

“He has the power to read another’s mind, but honestly, watching the two of you, I saw nothing but natural surprise from him. Were you compelling him, Bliss?” Lindsey pulled her arm out of one side of her coat, slid closer to Bliss, and wrapped that side of the coat around Bliss’s back.

“No. That’s the hell of it…something happened between us, and it occurred the moment my gaze connected to his.” She turned toward Lindsey, dropping the coat away from her body. “No one has ever made me feel this way…and he’s a bad-ass killer.” Her eyes sparked, as though riddled with fire.

Lindsey saw the change in both of them as soon as they looked at each other, as if everything melted away from them except the primal urge to mate. She wanted to laugh, but the whole
mated to a killer thing
grabbed her by the throat and choked it away.

“I need a moment to think about what just happened here. Whatever it is, I know I won’t be coming back from it.” Bliss began pulling Lindsey’s clothes off. “Let’s soak a while. Smoke will be gone for hours. We have time to bathe and rest before his return.”

“We’re just going to stay here and wait for him to come back?” Lindsey couldn’t believe after everything she’d shared with Bliss about Smoke that she’d want to wait for him, like a love-struck puppy. “How can you even think of being with him knowing all the crimes he’s committed? Murders, out-right slaughters, not to mention rapes? Bliss, even if you turn out to be primal-mates, which just can’t be right for either of you, how can you think about being with him?”

“How can I explain something I don’t understand myself?” Bliss unclasped Lindsey’s bra and let it fall down her arms. “Stand and kick off your panties. Your nipples look so beaded, I’m afraid they’ll snap off if I touch them.” Bliss slid her heated palm gently over both Lindsey’s breasts, sending a deep shiver through her that had nothing to do with the cold. She removed her panties and followed Bliss to the edge of the pool. Lindsey knew better than to climb into the water. It burned her before. So, she folded herself, knees beneath her, on its edge and splashed its warmth over her skin while Bliss dropped into the steamy water.