Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) (10 page)

“Oh, that’s just great,” she snarled,
throwing her hands in the air. “Fucking great!”

“Watch your language,” Winter warned.

“Nova?” Talon interrupted, causing Winter to
turn around. His alpha had approached as they’d argued and he’d not
even noticed because he’d been too focused on the little human.
“He’s right. It’s for the best if you come home with us. Just until
we find these wolves.”

“I will not be told to rest while I’m
there,” she demanded, glaring at both men. “I will return to work
tomorrow afternoon, and if you want a Guardian with me, he better
be ready to go when I am.”

“No one is going to hold you prisoner,”
Talon assured her. “Please, pack a bag. Liberty is worried sick
about you.”

“She worries too much,” Nova sighed. “I have
silver bullets for my gun. I don’t see the need to run back to the
pride.”

“You have silver bullets?” Winter asked,
shocked at her confession.

“Yup, got them from a guy.” She shrugged, a
slight blush dusting her cheeks. “Thought I’d keep them on hand.
You know, just in case something happened.”

“We are keeping you safe,” Winter said, his
voice sounding tired.

“Well, my daddy taught me not to rely on a
man and to take care of myself,” she admitted. “So I got these
bullets and loaded them up because you never know when you’ll need
them.”

“Jesus,” Winter cursed. “You are one little
hellcat.”

“Just like her sister,” Talon mumbled.

“Let me pack a bag,” Nova said in defeat.
“But I’m taking my gun. If I’m staying with Winter…I might just
need it.”

“Great,” Winter grumbled, flinching when
Talon slapped him on the back and let out a barking laugh.

Chapter Seven

Nova slid into the driver’s seat of her old
car. All of the Guardians headed for their own vehicles, backing
out so she could do the same. Before she had time to put the car in
reverse, the passenger door opened and Winter folded himself into
the small seat.

“You need a damn truck,” he complained,
pulling the door closed with an annoyed grunt.

“What are you doing?” she asked, narrowing
her eyes on the stubborn Guardian.

“Riding with you,” he said, leaning back in
his seat and folding his arms across his chest. “What?”

“Who is going to take your truck?” she
asked. “And I don’t need a babysitter. It’s only a five minute
drive.”

“You don’t know where my house is on the
property and I’m not taking the chance of us getting separated.”
Winter resumed looking out the front windshield as if he was just
along for a ride to the store. “Are you going to drive or just sit
there all night?”

Nova uttered a harsh curse under her breath
and backed out of her spot.
Oh, he can be such an annoying
asshat sometimes!

Talon’s truck was ahead of hers at the end
of the driveway and whoever was in Winter’s truck was waiting
patiently to follow her out to the road. The ride over to the pride
was short and Winter pointed toward the road leading past the big
house. “Mine is the second one on the left.”

She followed the small road, taking note of
the cabins that were dotted in the wooded area behind the alpha’s
home. Each home was unique, a special stamp of the builder was
obvious as she drove past them. It was dark, but the little car’s
headlights illuminated the area enough that she could tell Winter’s
home was modest and beautiful. It was a small two-story cottage,
the siding was painted an off white and the shutters framing the
widows were black as night. There were no flowers or shrubs against
the front of the house.

“Just park next to the garage,” he
instructed, resuming his quiet spot next to her.

Nova pulled up where he pointed, killing the
engine as soon as the car came to a complete stop. Winter exited
the vehicle and pulled her bag from the backseat. Nova grabbed her
purse and cell phone, cracking the door open so she could get out.
There was a porch light on that cast a path out toward the garage
door. She followed Winter inside and gasped when she took in the
beautiful home. The interior was done in browns and beiges, a few
splashes of red thrown in by way of a rug or picture frame.

The living room was small and cozy, a
fireplace was the focal point of the room. A red leather chair sat
against the wall to her left and under a large window that looked
out into the woods behind his small yard was a beige couch. Above
the fireplace was a huge flat screen television. Like the alpha’s
home, Winter’s cottage had a loft overlooking the downstairs den.
Nova wondered if maybe he’d start a fire on one of the cold nights
she’d be staying with him, but didn’t want to impose.

“Come upstairs and I will show you to your
room,” he said, clearing his throat. “My room is over there.” Nova
followed where his finger pointed. The master bedroom was attached
to the living room downstairs and as she followed Winter to a set
of stairs, she noticed the kitchen was to the left.

“If you need me for anything, please don’t
hesitate to come get me,” he said. Everywhere she looked, Nova
could tell Winter’s touch was all over the place. The home suited
him perfectly.

“Okay,” she nodded, following him up the
wide staircase. At the top of the landing, there was a door
straight ahead and one to her left and right. Winter turned toward
the right, opening the door to an average sized room with a large
bed; a patchwork quilt was folded down, revealing white sheets
beneath.

“My room is right under yours,” he told her,
moving out of the way so she could enter. “A bathroom is at the top
of the stairs.”

“Thank you,” she replied, dropping her bag
on the bed. “I’ll probably sleep in so I can go to the bar tomorrow
afternoon.”

“Have you talked to your sister about that?”
he asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

“No,” she said, already shaking her head. “I
need to go in, Winter. Liberty needs to rest. Your healer advised
her not to do too much for the next few weeks, and if I’m not
there, she will worry and go in to the bar on her own. I don’t want
her out there with the wolves still in the area. It’d be better if
I went.”

“It’d be better if you
both
stayed
here,” he grumbled.

“I’ll be fine,” she argued. “I have you to
watch over me.” She noticed how his eyes darkened at her words and
she felt her muscles relax in response to the scent coming off of
his body. Whatever that scent was that he produced, Nova had the
sudden urge to roll in it.

“And I will,” he promised.

“Goodnight, Winter,” she said, turning to
open her bag. When she looked over her shoulder, he’d already left
the room and the door was left cracked open.

Nova climbed into the bed, covering herself
with the thick quilt, then closed her eyes and fell asleep, content
and unafraid.

Malaki held his baby sister as she cried.
Knowing they were both getting weak because of lack of food and the
absence of an alpha, he chewed on his bottom lip as he thought of a
plan to get them out of there without Calla getting hurt.

“Please, Mal,” she whispered. “I’m dying. I
can’t take this anymore. You have to let them kill me.” Her eyes
closed from exhaustion. His beautiful baby sister didn’t look
anything like the young, vibrant child he once knew. These months
in captivity had done a number, not only on her body, but her mind.
Living in fear would slowly kill anyone.

“Never,” he snarled, feeling his panther
push forward. Thankfully, the panther knew not to shift because of
the collar they had around his human neck. The thing was
impregnated with sharp spikes that would kill him immediately upon
shifting.

The door to their secured room flew open,
the leader of the wolves was standing in the doorway looking tall
and menacing. His gray hair was in disarray. The stench of
cigarette smoke drifted into the room and Malaki could smell the
alcohol on his breath from ten feet away.

“I need you to find that alpha’s bitch,” he
snarled.

“Okay,” Malaki replied. He didn’t want to
show how frightened he truly was around this monster. Any scent of
fear from him would only put him at a disadvantage.

Malaki moved slightly to his left, blocking
the older man from looking at his baby sister. He knew she was at
her weakest, and he also knew he had to get them out of there
before it was too late. The time was now. He had to do
something
if he was going to save them both.

“You have three hours to get the
information,” the alpha ordered. “My man will drop you close to the
bar and will pick you up in the same location. If you don’t show, I
will kill her.” The man leered at Calla, licking his lips as if he
were looking forward to whatever he had planned. Malaki wasn’t
stupid…he knew what they would do to her.

Malaki nodded and waited for the man to
remove his collar. His panther pushed forward as soon as the bonds
were free, but Malaki was able to calm his beast by thinking of
getting them out of there. He turned his head from side to side,
working out the stiffness from being bound for so long. Had it been
two weeks already? Maybe longer?

One of the wolves waited outside in an old
maroon Buick, the engine running loudly. The damn car smelled of
wolf and sweat.

“Come on, boy,” the man grunted as he placed
a blindfold over Malaki’s eyes. He was as old as the alpha of the
pack, but from what Malaki could tell, he was very low in the
ranks. It seemed like this guy did a lot of the grunt work, since
he was the one who usually dropped him off where the alpha wanted
Malaki to search for information on the pride.

“Three hours,” the man reminded when the car
came to a stop.

“I’ll be here,” he replied, stepping from
the vehicle. They’d pulled onto a side road just off the two lane
highway that ran in front of the bar. Dusk would be settling in
soon and Malaki could use the cover of night to do his work.

Little did the wolves know, Malaki was going
to finally make contact with the pride and hope like hell they
didn’t kill him or his sister for his role in the kidnapping of the
alpha’s mate and the young woman from the pride.

Winter took a long pull off of his beer, his
eyes roaming the bar. The dinner rush had just started and the
place was pretty full for the middle of the week. He’d left the
office at five and rushed down to the bar to give Dane the night
off. It still pissed him off that the Guardian was watching over
Nova while he was busy working with the sheriff’s office to find
the boy who’d been reported missing in eastern Tennessee.

The missing teen had been seen in town by a
trusted resident and local farmer two weeks ago. Apparently, the
boy, Malaki, had been reported missing by a friend of the family
after the kid’s parents and baby sister had been killed in a house
fire over a month ago. Winter and Noah had been asking around town,
but no one else had come forward. Tonight, they’d shift and search
for scents on the farmer’s land once darkness fell over the
area.