Wild Nights (17 page)

nothing more than a sharp demand to get her to safety.

Water streamed off Aya’s body, leaving paths of icy coldness

along her skin. She hugged herself against a rack of shivers and

succumbed to the powerful body that cocooned her, resting her head

on Lenox’s chest. She felt helpless, useless. Her gut instinct screamed

at her to stop him, but her words held no weight to the fierce hunter

she saw in Riley. The man had a stubborn streak that put the longstanding redwoods to shame. Nothing could deter him if his mind was

made up.

“Can’t we go with him?” Aya asked. The muscles along Lenox’s

chest and shoulders tensed. He groaned his frustration, a deep rolling

rumble that vibrated against her ear. The deft pace of his heart turned

to a hard punching. She stretched along his spirit, locating his pacing

wolf. The restlessness she contained within her was mirrored within

him.

“I won’t leave you unprotected, and there’s no way you’re going

where there might be danger,” Lenox said sharply. His hands splayed

over her back and shoulder, holding her tight.

“Lenox, what if it’s a trap? We can’t leave him to fend for

himself. Not now.”

“If there’s a wolf who knows how to fend for himself, it’s Riley.

The years have turned him into a cruel and calculating bastard.” A

sigh left his lips. “But you seem to have brought him back around in

mere hours.”

“
We
did,” Aya corrected. Worry coated her spirit. She didn’t want

114

Rhea Regale

Riley to go off alone. At last, she had her mates. Two incredible

males who made her blood sizzle with desire, her body ache with

need, and her heart race with…

Aya blinked. She turned her face up to Lenox. His gaze shifted

from the forest to her. One of his hands slid up to her neck, tipping

her head back enough for him to claim her mouth with ease. She

moaned against his lips, the lazy strokes of his tongue along hers

stoking hunger in her womb. His growing arousal nudged her in the

belly.

Ah, yes. Maybe her heart did race with love for both her men.

The breeze shifted, and with it, an unnerving scent that

immediately stabbed at her. Lenox ripped his mouth away and spun,

shoving her behind his solid form. Her heart thundered against her

ears. Her wolf whined and clawed to come out. Instinct howled at the

unsettling air as she surveyed the bank across the river.

“Someone’s here,” Lenox snarled, forcing them back behind a

boulder. The icy blue glow from the moon became obscured. Aya

glanced toward the sky. Thin clouds slid over the white orb. The night

whispered of danger. The air, moments ago so light and right, filled

with the darkness of their ominous threat. The hairs on her nape stood

up straight. They were at the center of intense focus. She could almost

feel eyes burning into her. Marking her.

“Oh, God. We have to get out of here,” Aya whispered. Lenox

nodded once. His face was a stoic mask, but she could detect the

furious workings of his thoughts.

Aya shifted. Rocks slid beneath her feet and she fell onto her side.

Into the open.

A drawn-out whizzing sliced through the breeze. Aya scrambled

back to the safety of the boulder. Lenox grabbed her. Rocks jabbed

into her ribs as they rolled. A sharp plink and scrape yanked her

attention back to where she had been a split second earlier.

A dart stuck out between two rocks, the bright pink feathers at the

end swaying in the breeze.

Wild Nights

115

“Go!” Lenox barked.

Aya whimpered, digging her toes into the rocky riverside. She

vaulted ahead, bending to the will of her wolf. Her body twisted and

reformed. Her white coat sprang from her flesh. Paws hit the soft dirt

as she crossed into the forest. Fear stung her senses, dimming her

thoughts. She plowed ahead, her lithe form and agility making it

easier for her wolf to maneuver the uneven terrain of the forest.

Lenox came up alongside her, his gray and white fur ruffling

against the speed of their run.

“Don’t stop until we reach the house. Don’t stop for anything,”

Lenox rasped. Aya yipped her response, springing over a downed

tree. Another whiz skated along her hearing. Breathing hard, pushing

herself to maximum speed, she glanced at Lenox. He leaped up,

vaulting off a tree trunk as another bright pink-feathered dart

embedded into the wood.

“Who is it?”
Aya gasped. She focused on the forest ground. At

this speed, any glitch in her attention could easily land her skidding

out of control. She’d be an open target. Her ears rested back against

her head, but she could hear everything around them. The scraping of

leaves under an animal’s nails. The dark symphony of nighttime

insects crooning a scratchy melody. Lenox’s fast-pacing heart.

The forest drowned in deep shadows as thicker clouds blocked the

last sliver of moonlight. Lenox blended into the background except

for splashes of white in his fur. The echo of their paws against the

ground resonated straight down to the heart of her spirit.

“Don’t know.”
Lenox zigzagged over the terrain. She followed

his path.

A distinct crack pierced the rushing of air against her ears. Lenox

bolted forward, coming up on her side. His heavy weight shoved into

her, knocking her off path and forcing her to readjust her course. He

worked to calm her wolf, calm the violent injection of adrenaline

taking hold of her mind.

A shot rang out. A pained mewl shattered the pace of the night.

116

Rhea Regale

Aya skidded to a halt in time to see Lenox flip and roll across the

ground, kicking up dirt and leaves. He slid to a stop at the base of a

towering redwood.

“Lenox!”

“Go! Don’t worry about me. Get home!”
His command was

etched with the strain of agony. Aya whimpered, lowering her belly to

the ground as she crawled beneath the brush line to Lenox’s side. He

snapped his teeth at her.
“Woman…”

Aya nudged his head, inhaling the scent of raw masculinity, the

musk of wolf, and a tinge of coppery blood.

She spotted the dart protruding from Lenox’s haunch.

“Ayasha, he’s coming. Get out of here!”

“Not without you!”

“The drug…it’s already in my system.”
Lenox’s breathing turned

into gasps. He clawed at the ground, trying to right himself. Aya

grabbed hold of the dart with her teeth and yanked it out of his haunch

with a growl. She pressed her snout to his back and tried to help him

to his feet.

Lenox rose to his belly before falling over again. His gasps eased

to steady breaths.

“Lenox—”

“Please, Aya…go…home.”

No. She wouldn’t leave him here. Not with the dangers

encroaching them.

“Riley! I need your help. Lenox’s been shot with a tranq. There’s

someone—”

The brush separated. Lenox’s head lolled and his eyes closed.

Aya’s head shot up from his furry scruff. The scent of spent powder

and hot metal hit her. A strong wave of sweat smacked her nostrils.

The air filled with the malevolent pressure of danger hovering close.

Too close.

Her eyes adjusted to the object trained on her. Her wild spirit

reared and she clamored backward.

Wild Nights

117

“So we’ve found you.” The man chuckled. Muscles bulged

beneath his black T-shirt as he shifted his gun. “Eliza will be

pleased.”

She snorted, the stench of the man making her stomach roll until

she thought she would vomit. Her rear hit an obstacle, but she refused

to take her eyes off the man. His finger twitched against the trigger.

His eyes glinted. A malicious smile curled his lips and stabbed an icy

poker of fear into her gut.

She detected the tightening of his muscles and leaped to the right

as another shot burst out. The dart slammed into the rock where a

moment before she had been backed up to. She made it a handful of

strides when two wolves jumped into her path, crouching back in

preparation to attack. Her paws slid over the loose leaves, her rear

slamming into the ground as she broke left.

Another wolf appeared, black jowls peeled back from glistening

white teeth.

Aya came to an abrupt halt, lifting her jowls and baring her teeth

to the entourage closing in around her. Her muscles quivered with a

menacing mixture of stark fear, adrenaline, and anger. No one would

take her down. Not like this. She’d fight for herself, for Lenox.

One wolf lunged toward her, coming up a few feet away. Aya

retreated slowly, her guttural rumble resonating against the trees and

rocks. The distinct click of a new dart engaging signaled the gunman

had finished reloading.

Aya made her decision in a split second. She spun around and

dodged the gunman’s line of fire as he pulled off another round, but

turning her back to three bloodthirsty wolves left her at a great

disadvantage.

Sharp claws dug into her hindquarters. She yelped as the bigger

wolf dragged her to the ground. He never released his hold on her,

digging deeper into her muscles, sending shock waves of fiery pain up

her body. She clawed at the ground to climb out from under him, but

he overpowered her. She turned over, wedged her back paws against

118

Rhea Regale

the wolf’s fleshy belly, and threw him off—

Teeth clamped down on her front arm. She howled, a new wave of

pain tearing up her arm. The male who took her down recovered from

where he landed a few feet away. Aya swatted this new wolf’s snout,

her claws raking down his sensitive nose. He released her paw with a

high-pitched yelp and shuffled backwards, shaking his brown head as

blood streamed off his nose.

Aya scrambled to all four paws and barely had her balance back

before something solid whipped her across her shoulders, splaying her

over the ground.

The gunman sneered and twirled the barrel of his weapon back to

her.

A deafening roar grazed the outskirts of her swimming mind.

Leaves and branches exploded, raining down in a gray-green array.

Aya gasped as the slow-time reel of this newest wolf barreled into the

gunman, knocking him flat on his belly. Tawny fur stood on end.

Pointed ears lay so flat against his head that there were impressions

left in his fur. His eyes were ablaze with a wild ferocity that caused

her lungs to constrict and her heart to speed up.

Riley tore into the gunman’s neck. The man howled. Riley

snapped his jaw sharply and a deafening crack echoed in the night.

The man became silent and still.

Aya edged closer to Lenox, her attention fastened on Riley. He

crouched low to the ground, his large front paws on the dead man’s

back, staking his victory behind the trembling growl that rolled

endlessly. His teeth shimmered with fresh blood, his snout stained

with dark splotches of red.

The three wolves leaped at once.

“Riley!”

“You stay put, Ayasha! Let me handle them!”

The raw bite in his demand froze her where she stood. She

lowered herself to the ground, nudging Lenox’s head with her nose

while she kept her attention on Riley. If the tranq contained the same

Wild Nights

119

concoction of drugs they’d used to sedate Riley earlier, the only way

to get him back to the house would be to carry him.

Damn, this wasn’t looking good.

Riley hopped back, his front paw hooking on the strap to the gun.

He flowed fluidly from wolf to man within a blink, and swung the

gun to the nearest enemy. One round fired, nailing the middle wolf in

the throat. The creature dropped to the ground without as much as a

cry. Riley regripped the gun and swatted the two remaining wolves

with the wide butt, sending both staggering back, shaking their heads.

Aya lifted her head from Lenox’s scruff. Riley spun toward her,

eyes glowing with a primitive fierceness that may have poured fear

into her spirit if she were his enemy. He knelt down beside Lenox and

peeled back one of his eyelids.

“We have to get him home,”
Aya said. Riley groaned, slamming

the butt of the gun into the ground. Blood stained his face and fingers.

She cast a worrisome glance toward the two sneezing wolves as they

pawed their snouts with short little whimpers of pain.

“Yeah, no kidding.” He slid his arms beneath Lenox, bowing his

head to hoist him around his shoulders. Aya climbed to her feet as

Riley settled Lenox into place. His eyes lifted to hers. “He’ll be fine.”

“I’ll feel better when he’s someplace secure.”
Aya jutted her nose

to the wolves. Their pain must’ve been subsiding because they ceased

staggering and pawing. Their beady-eyed glares held steady on them

for a tenuous moment.
“Uh, I think they’re back.”

“Fucking peachy.”

Aya gauged her opponents. She needed to make sure Riley got