Seal Wolf Hunting (9781402293832) (25 page)

Allan felt like shit. His side was hurting like hell, and he couldn't believe he'd fallen into the trap, which was plain stupid after all the training he'd had. Go to the jungle, return unscathed, and get shot by a damned bank robber. Or…a man who was an accessory to the crime.

“Hunter,” he said, trying to catch his breath. He was afraid he was dying.

“What? Wait, where the hell are you?” Paul asked.

“Near the jumping cliffs on Flathead,” Allan croaked out.

“On my way.”

“He's still…out there, well, gone, but afraid might return.”

“The shooter?”

“Bank robber,” Allan said, stumbling away from the place he'd been shot. The guy had driven off on his motorcycle in a panic, and the hunter had left in his pickup.

“Everett's with me. We're coming. Just grabbing my Glock, a couple of throwing knives, and the medical kit.”

Allan heard the SUV doors open and shut, and the engine roar to life. “He drove off but might return. To finish…me. The hunter.” He didn't think the motorcycle guy had it in him. Which is why the hunter ambushed him as Allan followed the bank robber into the woods.

“We're on our way. Twenty minutes, max.” Paul sounded like he was ready to kill the bastards.

Allan wished
he
could. “Wolves.”

“What? Damn it. Not the Cooper brothers.”

“Jerome was with him. I always…thought he was the sneaky one. Quiet.”

“Allan's been shot,” Everett said to someone. “Where?”

Allan listened to the conversation, glad wolves had such good hearing.

Paul gave Everett the location.

“The EMTs are new to town. They don't know where it is. I'll call Lori,” Everett said.

Allan didn't like hearing that bit of news.

“She'll know the location.” Paul said to Allan, “Everett's sending the EMTs, and I've got my medical field pack and weapons as we speak.”

“Can't call police.”

“No, not if they're wolves. Hang in there, buddy.”

“Moving. In case they come back.” The pain was so bad that Allan felt his vision blackening twice before he moved away from the place near his vehicle where he'd collapsed.

Everett said to Paul, “Got hold of Lori. She's going with them to show them where Allan is.”

Paul repeated the information to Allan.

“'K.”

“Don't you dare die on me, Allan, damn it.”

Allan smiled.

“You hear me?”

“Pack leader order?”

“It sure as hell is.”

“'K.”

* * *

Paul was sick with worry over Allan's condition. He'd never heard him sound so bad. Normally it would have taken Paul forty-five minutes to an hour to get there, but he was moving like a wolf on a hunt and hoped the police wouldn't stop him. In a case like this, had it been a human, Paul would have reported it to the police and tried to get there first, but a wolf?

“Don't hang up on me,” he told Allan.

“Won't.”

Everett wisely didn't say anything, but Paul knew he wanted to prove himself, to show he could be a valuable member of the pack. Which meant if he wasn't trained like they were, he could get himself killed. And with Rose having triplets?

“No heroics,” Paul said to Everett.

“I know how to shoot a gun and use a knife. I wasn't born yesterday.”

“Good. I'm serious though. No heroics. I need you and Allan alive.”

Everett was already a valuable attribute, not waiting for direction and figuring out Lori needed to be there to guide the EMTs to the location since she had lived in the area all her life. And he'd called Rose to let her know he couldn't get her to her doctor's appointment. He'd even called Catherine to let her know about her son's emergency.

“How bad is it?” Everett asked.

“Not good. Allan would say it was a flesh wound if it was.” Paul turned onto a dirt road. “Almost there. Allan, you still with me?”

“Yeah,” he grunted out. “But I heard a vehicle returning.”

“Mine?”

“Hunter's.”

“The hunter? You mean the guy we had arrested for illegally shooting the elk?”

“Yeah.”

“He's not a wolf.”

“Hunter's spray, probably. Jerome's with him at least. Heard voices. All four doors opened, slammed shut.”

Hell, more than just the hunter and Jerome then. “What happened?”

“I was at the bank.” Allan's voice was weaker than Paul would have liked.

“Bank robbery?”

“Yeah. Couldn't call police. Jerome involved.”

“Okay, gotcha.”

“Followed him. Robber. Didn't…think he saw me.”

“But he did?” Paul wished to hell Allan hadn't gone after the guy on his own.

“Must have. Set trap.”

“We're here, Allan. You should have called me.”

“Wasn't planning to get…caught.”

“I smell your vehicle and the hunter's.”

“I'm…to the southeast of my car.”

Paul parked his vehicle and got out while Everett grabbed the med pack. Paul gave him a spare Glock he had in his glove compartment. Then the two headed for the vehicles, saw Allan's window shot out and blood on the seat, and found a blood trail that turned Paul's stomach.

“Jerome was the bank robber?”

“Diversion. Lookout.”

The other men could follow Allan's blood trail and scent just as easily.

“Hell,” Allan said.

His heart drumming, Paul feared the worst.

Shots suddenly fired. A wolf howled and snarled.

Hell
and
damnation!
Lori?

Paul raced toward the sound of the shots and the growling. “Allan, if you can hear me, I'm sending Everett your way.” He motioned for Everett to follow the blood trail to see to Allan and protect him. Everett gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, and Paul raced after the man who intended to shoot Lori.

“Shoot her!” a man yelled out. The hunter?

Paul's damn heart was already beating so fast he thought it would explode.

“She bit my damned arm!”

“Go after her!” Dusty yelled out.

Glad she was biting and not injured yet, Paul listened for signs of where everyone was.

Damn, how many of them were here? The whole lot of them, he assumed. They were headed for the cliffs next to Flathead Lake. There was a lower ledge, about a thirty-five-foot drop into the water, where locals and visitors liked to jump. But higher up, it could be dangerous if Lori were pushed and fell onto the rocks instead.

Paul heard her growling in the trees up ahead. She was close to the cliffs.

Then he saw Jerome taking aim, and Paul aimed his own weapon and fired. The guy ducked or fell, Paul couldn't be sure. But at the same instant, another shot rang out, and that one clipped his arm. What the hell?

He swung around but didn't see anyone through the trees. As he dove for cover, he couldn't see Lori either. He moved at a crouch through the underbrush, trying to get closer to where the hunter had been.

A gunshot sounded off in the distance. And then another. Near Allan, Paul assumed. He sure as hell hoped Everett had killed someone and not the other way around.

And then he heard low growling. Lori.

He raced to the location, saw a wolf, and recognized Dusty backing her up against the edge of the cliffs. Paul aimed to shoot Dusty, but another wolf slammed into him from the side, and he dropped the gun.

Damn it! With snarling teeth bared at him, Paul was having a devil of a time keeping the dark brown wolf from taking a bite out of him. He could smell Howard's scent and recognized him like he did the others from years earlier.

With a tight grip on the wolf's head, Paul rolled with him until they were at the cliff's edge. Figuring out what was next, Howard tried to get free, but Paul was determined to end this now with the brothers. He swung his leg and kicked the wolf in the side as hard as he could. Howard yelped as he fell over the edge of the cliff. If he was lucky, he'd only break a few bones.

But Paul's concern was Dusty and Lori for now.

Paul had lost his Glock, but rather than go back for it, he stripped and shifted, right as Dusty charged Lori. To avoid his snapping jaws, she backed up too far, too quickly, and slipped off the edge of the cliff.

Paul's heart nearly stopped beating. If he had been in his human form, he would have cried out her name. Instead, he growled so ferociously as he dove for Dusty that the other wolf panicked, head down, tail tucked between his legs.

It was too late for Dusty to respond. Paul tackled him and tore into him viciously, killing him within seconds. Paul had no time to lose. He released the dead wolf and hurried to the cliff's edge.

Lori was lying on the ledge used for jumping into the lake, not moving. But she was still in her wolf form. She wasn't dead. Stunned maybe. Hurt.

Howard was floating in the water below, facedown, human now. Dead.

Paul couldn't climb down to reach her without being in his human form. He shifted and threw on his clothes. Trying not to kill himself in his rush to get to Lori, he finally reached her and felt for a pulse at her neck. “Lori…”

She shifted, her eyelids fluttering. Then they opened quickly. “Allan.”

“I don't know his condition. I've got to get you out of here. What hurts?” Paul tugged off his shirt.

“Bruised. I think the fall knocked me out, but I don't feel like anything's broken.”

“The baby?” he asked, helping her into his shirt.

She smiled. “I think it's too little to have been affected.”

But he wasn't smiling. If the brothers hadn't been dead already…

“Hey!” Everett called from up above. His right arm was bloodied and dangling at his side. “Are you all right?”

“We're okay. Allan?” Paul asked, his heart still thundering.

“EMTs have got him.”

“What about you?”

“I had to check on you first. Is Lori all right?”

“Yeah,” Lori said, and Paul helped her to stand, then lifted her in his arms.

“Are you sure you're all right?” Paul asked, concerned about the way his mate was trembling.

“Shaken.”

“We're coming. What happened to the other guys? Jerome, was he with them? They better look worse than you,” Paul growled.

Everett smiled a little. “Yeah. Allan said the two I killed were Jerome and the hunter you turned in for illegally hunting elk.”

“Somebody call the police?” Paul asked.

“Just waiting for you to give the go-ahead.”

Paul really liked Everett. He was a team player. “Enough of us have been shot to prove they were the bad guys and, well, the bank money is in their vehicle, right?”

“Hopefully. Unless the motorcycle guy took off with it.”

“Hell.” Paul shook his head. “Where are your clothes?” he asked Lori, needing to get her back to the SUV.

Everett walked with them until they reached her clothes. “I'll head down to the ambulance. Feeling a little woozy,” he said.

“Be there in a minute.” Paul helped Lori dress. “Are you sure you're all right?”

“Yeah, I am. But you've been wounded.”

“Nicked. Flesh wound.” He helped her stand and they headed for the vehicles.

The EMTs were taking care of Everett when they reached the ambulance. Allan was already inside.

“How's Allan?”

“He's going to be fine. Vitals are good.”

“Good. Meet you at the clinic in a bit.”

“Yes, sir.”

Paul called the police, and then he and Lori waited for them to arrive. He held Lori tight in his arms as they sat on a log, taking in the scent of pine and listening to the wind blowing through the trees. It was so peaceful, beautiful, home. To think only moments ago, they were having a wolf fight with the remnants of the Wolfgang pack.

“Still want to see the movie tonight?” Lori hugged Paul to her, thankful he was their leader. That she was his mate and running the pack too. And that Allan, Everett, and Rose would be all right.

“You bet. No violence or anything. Just romance.”

Paul wanted to take her right back home, but he realized she was like him—the movie was part of her list. Afterward, they would spend the rest of the night naked at home, enjoying each other to the max.

Catherine called to tell them that Allan would be fine. “Everett said the men are all dead. And it's a good thing too. After they hassled Lori while she was jogging before her martial-arts classes, I knew they would never stop causing real trouble for us and for others.”

Paul felt Lori stiffen a little in his arms.

“I agree. Glad to hear Allan is going to be all right. We'll be there in a few minutes. Police are just pulling up. Got to go.”

“See you in a bit.”

Paul ended the call and looked down at Lori. “Want to explain?”

“Nope. I handled it. We won't have any more trouble with the likes of them.”

“Lori…” Paul wanted to kill the bastards all over again.

She smiled up at him. “I love you.”

He shook his head and hugged her tight.

Before long, they were explaining to the police and sheriff's department about the bank robbery and Allan getting ambushed after he followed the robber into the woods. Paul didn't have any explanation for the deflated tires on Dusty's truck, but Lori knew how that had happened. She had bitten them in case any of the men tried to make a fast getaway.

Paul and Lori told the police where the bodies would be found but couldn't give any reason for why the two brothers were naked. They'd let the police figure that out for themselves. As to the animal that had bitten into Dusty's neck and killed him, they hadn't seen anything.

“Gonna get that taken care of?” the police officer asked Paul, looking at his arm.