Staring Into the Eyes of Chance (22 page)

Jase undressed, dropped his clothes beside Trevor’s and shifted, following after his friend. He ended up miles away from their Inn when he picked up Lindsey and the rogue Alpha’s scents along with Trevor’s. He came upon a one room cabin and quickly shifted into human-form. Sex hung in the air between the Alpha and Lindsey so thick Jase pictured cutting it with a chainsaw as he stepped inside the cabin.

He found nothing there, no furniture, not even a bed, only Lindsey and the Alpha’s disgusting consensual scents of sex. They must have used the floor. Jase noticed the broken window and walked over. Trevor’s scent was strong there. Jase imagined his friend watching the whole sordid affair from that vantage point. Trevor must have gone ballistic, especially if he came on them in the middle of it all.

A bad sinking feeling filled Jase’s belly. He ran out of the cabin, shifted back into wolf, and circled the cabin until he scented Trevor’s hopelessness, his escape route. A broken heart was hard to hide.

“Trevor. Trevor, answer me. Don’t be going dark on me now.”

He followed Trevor’s scent for miles, until Jase realized Trevor was running back toward the club-house hundreds of miles away. Jase didn’t take time going back for the truck, afraid Trevor’s scent might go cold, especially not with Trevor’s frame of mind. Through the miles, Jase scented changes in Trevor’s emotional state, until Jase recognized raging anger, the debilitating kind that left deep oozing wounds.

“Boss, Trevor’s running wolf.”

“Jase, the boss is looking for Olivia, got his hands full right now,”
Dir answered.

“I’m wolfing it, too, on Trevor’s trail and I think he’s on his way back to the club-house. Only we’re a couple hundred miles from there. I think something happened between Lindsey and the Alpha, and Trevor witnessed it. I sensed it as consensual sex, lots of it. Trevor’s in a scary frame of mind right now. He’s not responding to my summons.”

“Stick with him. We’ll pick up the truck later. Keep us informed on what’s happening. We’re here if you need us.”

“Let me know about Olivia.”

“She’s wolfing it, too.”

Jase thought about Dir’s last comment. Olivia had shifted? Chance wouldn’t allow that, not without consulting the Council Elders first. All human shifters needed approval by them before the first shift occurred.

Smoke. He’d done something, but how could her transformation have happened so fast? Jase remembered driving through the night and enjoying the full moon overhead. He’d forgotten first transformations are triggered by the full moon.

Damn blasted monster.

Jase ran through the daylight and into the night. He noticed the forest getting denser. Nocturnal creatures moved about, bears, wolves, deer, raccoons, and owls. Then, he scented a pack of coyote near, he heard their hungry cries and wondered what they cornered. Blood. Trevor’s scent came across heavy with his blood.

An insistent urgent force, something binding pack members as one, flushed through Jase. He bounded headstrong, leaping, running toward the coyotes, and charged into the center of the coyote pack. Trevor lay on the ground, bloodied and unconscious, but not dead. Jase stood huge in comparison with the spindly coyote. Baring his teeth, he jumped at a couple of them. He snapped his jaws and caught one around the neck, shaking and tossing it toward the others. The group disbanded and scattered away.

Jase looked down at his friend, concerned and worried. If Trevor lay unconscious, he should have shifted into human form. Instead Trevor’s large furry form, bloodied and abused, spread across a bed of oak leaves on the forest floor. He nosed Trevor, sniffing, licked at his blood, checking the depth of his wounds. Trevor’s wounds would mend. The coyotes hadn’t been there too long before Jase came upon them. Jase wasn’t so sure of Trevor’s broken heart. Sometimes those never mended.

“Dir, Trevor’s unconscious and wounded. He’s still in wolf-form, which concerns me. I got here just in time, before coyotes made mincemeat out of him. I can’t leave him and go back for the truck. I could use some assistance. I have a tracker on my collar, find me that way. Until then, I’m here with Trevor.”

“Chance is still looking for Olivia. He called Jasmine and I off the chase because he’s hot on her tail, and doesn’t really need all of us bringing her back. She’s headed in your direction, although I’m sure she won’t get that far. Jasmine and I will come and get you. Hang tight, buddy. We’ll bring some medical supplies with us.”

“Thanks man.”

Jase thought about Olivia again. She was an animal sensitive, and now she
was
an animal. Her head must be exploding with interesting thoughts and feelings straight from an animal’s mind, heart, and soul. Not only would she never want to shift back into human form, she wouldn’t know how.

The wolf form was so freeing, so exciting, new, and adventurous. A healthy beast could run for miles and miles, and at a Lycan’s speed it only took a few hours getting a couple hundred miles in distance. He wouldn’t be surprised if Olivia was following Lindsey and Smoke. She would still think about saving her friend.

Jase settled beside his friend. Trevor’s legs looked the worst, but they chewed his ears also. Jase licked Trevor’s bloody wounds, sealing them. He wasn’t sure why Trevor lay unconscious, but he had a feeling Trevor would rather stay out of this world because of what he witnessed earlier. Jase couldn’t imagine what it must be like finding his primal-mate and seeing her being taken away by a madman. And then knowing his primal-mate wanted that madman.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chance followed close on Olivia’s trail, like an elusive ghost, she stayed just ahead of him. He hadn’t even seen the color of her fur, though he sensed her excitement and could also scent her arousal. Chance knew how stimulating it could be in wolf form, especially the first time. All senses became heightened and naturally stimulated with the introduction into full animal awareness. She was seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting everything like never before. A newly transformed wolf experienced things just like a baby with their firsts.

They had been running for almost nine hours. Chance figured the Minnesota border must be close. He also noticed Olivia knew enough about being wolf she stayed hidden from traffic when crossing the roads. She mostly ran below them, under bridges or through large culverts. Lycan were much larger than a regular wolf and would definitely draw human attention. They only had a few more hours of daylight left. He couldn’t believe she kept moving.

Dir had told him about Jase and Trevor, and also about the incident Trevor witnessed between Lindsey and Smoke. Another reason Chance would like Smoke cut down, that beast hurt everyone he came into contact with, including Olivia.

Chance would make an appeal for Olivia with the Council Elders and hope they considered her a good candidate as a shifter. Chance had never put in a request or received any authority for the appropriate blood ritual required in a transformation. In all of his years as Lycan, he’d never performed one before, but had seen one performed a few years back. All pack members gave a drop of their blood, once the shift took place, they would all accept a drop from the shifter in exchange, sealing the pack membership. It would open the shifter, allowing telepathic access, which Olivia pretty much already had with their consummation.

A thought hit him like a sledge hammer. Olivia would be a rogue until she accepted a blood exchange from his pack. Until then…she belonged to Smoke’s pack…his blood made her shift. Chance howled for her. He realized where she was going in such a hurry. Olivia was running toward her pack. Smoke’s pack.

* * * *

Smoke stayed at the one room cabin only a couple of hours before moving on to another one room cabin a short distance away. This area was Smoke’s stomping grounds. He knew every foot of the forest and its structures. He didn’t want Lindsey’s ex-lover coming back with an anger issue. If Smoke put Lindsey’s ex down, he didn’t want her seeing it and have her go all sympathetic.

Smoke’s pack lived in lodges only a few miles north, but he waited for Olivia’s arrival before making his appearance there. He knew the exact moment Olivia turned wolf, and knew she’d been running toward him ever since. Pack blood could sometimes be stronger than consummating a primal-mating in calling home a wolf. His blood contained many packs, including his own, which made it potent, thanks to Dr. Linden. Olivia would be privy to all of the wolves in his blood until she was pulled by ritual into her own pack. She was getting closer every hour. He would wait for her, bring her into his pack, and perform the ritual that would completely sew her to him.

Soon he would put out a telepathic call for her, strengthening her need for him and his pack. He would wait until she got closer. He didn’t want any of Chance’s pack picking up on his communication, which might be impossible since she was a consummated mate with Chance.

Smoke pulled Lindsey across his lap, her bottom sticking up. “Pull your pants down.” He reached into the glove compartment and grabbed a hypodermic he’d prepared earlier. He had ten injections of his passion enhancer ready, measured out in small dosages, just enough to keep Lindsey uninhibited, willing, and ready for him.

Lindsey yanked her pants down and he pricked her, pushing the drug into her system with his thumb. He knew the moment it took effect, Lindsey’s body slithered against him in a most provocative way.

“Let’s go inside and see what comes up.” Smoke chuckled, climbing out of the SUV with her in his arms. She wriggled from his arms, the waist of her pants down around her thighs, showing all her essentials. Lindsey jumped back onto the seat. She reached into the back for a blanket and carried it inside the cabin. Smoke watched her shapely bare ass bend over as she spread the blanket on the floor.

“What are we doing? Going from cabin to cabin, marking each one with our scent? I don’t know, is that a wolf thing?” She faced him, her dark triangle of curls drawing his attention. His cock responded, retaliating against the zipper of his jeans. Lindsey stepped across the blanket where he stood and unzipped his pants, releasing his discomfort. She bent over and kissed the tip, licking and sucking it into her mouth. Smoke gasped and tilted his head back, his hips arched toward her luscious teasing tongue.

Lindsey grazed her hands over his buttocks, sliding his pants down to his knees. She nipped him and her hands flowed upward, inside his thighs until she palmed his balls. “Be gentle with me. Punishment can be harsh.”

She raised her face upward. “Maybe I like harsh punishment.” Her tongue snaked out, its tip flicking across the crown of his cock, sending a shiver down his spine. “Oh, you like that, do you?” She sucked his shaft into her mouth and pulled him by it to the middle of the blanket. Lindsey wrapped her fingers around it in a tight grip and popped it from between her lips. He thought he’d come right then. He’d never held such strong feelings for any woman, and he’d never trusted anyone in his life. But something about her made him want to trust, take the step into a life that included Lindsey.

* * * *

Sex was becoming easy for Lindsey. Her performances could win an Emmy. It came as a natural instinct, but was thoughtless, less challenging, and meaningless with Smoke, with one exception, it made her body feel good. And when her body felt good, it reflected her truth, the only memory she allowed herself of Trevor. He knew how to make her body feel good, feel loved. Every look she gave Smoke, every kiss, lick, anything with her body or his, was exactly what she imagined Trevor would want. But, her authentic truth lay with Trevor safely inside the little secret box locked away in her brain. Trevor only came out as a ghost when her body felt good, raising goose bumps across her skin and across her mind. She craved her body to feel good for that reason and that reason only.

Lindsey pushed her jeans down and stepped out of them, and then pulled her T-shirt over her head. She recognized the effects of the drug Smoke gave her and appreciated it. It made her acting much more realistic because her body wanted, needed stimulation, and she answered its need the best way she could, biding her time with nothing but locked away memories and seduction.

* * * *

Chance saw her. Olivia, brown fur with a cream color feathering her ears, head bent down, lapping water from the small creek a few feet in front of him. He ambled closer. Her head snapped up and she faced him, baring her teeth. He growled at her and stepped closer.

She sprinted off.

“Olivia, stop. We must talk about what’s happening to you. Please. I won’t hurt you.”

“Boss?”
Jase’s voice broke into Chance’s head.

“Jase, we aren’t too far from you. I don’t think Olivia can hear me. I don’t want her spooked, but I need her stopped before she reaches Smoke’s pack. If she makes it to them, I’ve lost her.”

“I’ll be ready if she comes this way. Jasmine and Dir should be here soon. Dir’s GPS has me marked about five miles away from them.”

Chance rushed through some thick brush. Nothing slowed Olivia down.

“Jase, Dir, Jasmine, we need Olivia surrounded. Knock her to the ground if you have to. I can’t let her reach Smoke. She’s evading me, staying just ahead, out of reach. I’ll make a concerted all-out rush as soon as I sense you are close. Be ready.”

Chance picked up speed. Olivia couldn’t get away from him, even if it meant hurting her in the process. She would mend, but not if she ended up with Smoke.

He saw her. She’d slowed, raising her head and sniffing the air. Jase and Trevor were just ahead. She probably could sense Trevor’s injuries. Chance wondered if she even recognized them. She seemed lost to him for some reason.