Wolf Pack (8 page)

Planting her feet on the floor, she raised up so he could pull the rest of her clothes off. He also dragged the blanket away from her legs where it’d tangled.

“Your turn,” she said.

Cole toes off his shoes then yanked off his socks before he tugged his jeans from his body. Once he was naked with his cock fully erect, he winked. Kendra grinned and kept her eyes on him as she ran her fingers down her body to her pussy, and through her slick folds.

“Yes,” he said. “Show me how much you want me.”

“I can do that,” she whispered. Kendra plunged her finger in several times before she added another. She liked being filled but her fingers were no match for what she really wanted. “Cole.”

“I’m coming,” he said, grasping his cock by the base and leaning forward.

Kendra moved her hand out of the way so she could grab his hips.

He slid into her. Once fully buried in her he paused. “Slow, this time.”

“Perfect,” she replied.

Cole withdrew before he pushed back in. Kendra kept her eyes on him, and he repeated the move over and over. It was different from their previous trysts, but this time, instead of allowing the adrenaline and need to fill her, Kendra basked in the care Cole took as he made love to her.

She rolled her hips as she kept her hands on him. Each time he pushed inside she bowed back and accepted him. His cock spread her open and she loved it. He skimmed his hands around her body to cup and lift her ass. The new position allowed him to drive himself deeper. Kendra cried out. She shook and trembled as her clit pulsed. He drove himself in a few more times and she climaxed. Above her, Cole hollered his own release.

* * * *

The insistent ringing of a phone close by was annoying the hell out of Cole. He groaned and rolled over but bumped into the coffee table. “Damn,” he muttered. They probably shouldn’t have fallen asleep on the floor after making love.

“Answer the phone,” Kendra mumbled from his side.

“I am, I am,” he bitched. He reached over for his jeans and pulled the small cell from the back pocket. As he closed his hand over it the phone stopped ringing. “Ugh.” He banged his head on the table.

Cole closed his eyes once again. He was damn tired but maybe he could carry Kendra to her bed and get some real sleep. He jumped when his cell started ringing again. Zak’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, man, there was another attack,” Zak said.

“Shit, where?” He climbed to his feet and strolled to the kitchen doorway.

“This time it was on the pack grounds,” Zak told him.

Cole looked over to where Kendra was back asleep. “Who?”

“A younger wolf who was out for a run. He’s going to make it but he’s pretty torn up. I’m with the Alpha now and could really use your help.”

“Yeah.” He roughly ran his hand over his face. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I figured,” Zak said. “Your car’s still out front. I take it you’re at Kendra’s cabin.”

He chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Bring your girl. We have a witness this time.”

“Will do.” Cole ended the call. “Hey.” He crawled back over to Kendra. “Wake up.” He shook her.

“Go away.” She batted his hand.

“We need to get up to the Alpha house,” he told her. He shifted over to sort through their clothes.

“What? Why?”

“You need to get dressed. I’ll explain on the way.” He picked up the sweats she’d worn earlier and tossed them over his shoulder to her.

“Something happened? Here?” she asked.

Cole took a deep breath and turned to her. She looked beautiful with her sleepy eyes and disheveled hair. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. “Everyone’s okay.”

“All right.” She nodded before she began to dress.

They were ready and out of the door in only a few minutes. Cole gripped her hand as they followed the dark path that would lead them back to the main house.

“Hey,” Zak called out as they stepped into the open area off the side of the Alpha’s home. “Over here.”

Cole lengthened his strides but Kendra easily kept up with him. When they reached the tiger shifter, Zak nodded to them.

“Dean Wilson was on a run with a few of his buddies. He got separated from the group but decided to continue on his own for a little bit. After a while he felt like he was being followed but couldn’t quite catch who or what it was.”

“Taylor ordered no one to run alone,” Kendra said.

“Yeah,” Zak agreed. “He told me. But Dean had been chasing a rabbit and thought since he was in the middle of the pack territory he’d be safe. He’s young and arrogant.”

“Taylor is going to kill him,” she mumbled.

Zak laughed. “There was something about babysitting for the next four pack runs being threatened.”

“That’ll do it,” Kendra replied.

“The good news is that Dean’s friends circled around to search for him. They came across the attack and managed to stop it. The best part is that they gave a good description of the ones responsible for the assault. Including the one who was obviously there against his will,” Zak said.

“Trent,” she guessed.

“That’s what we think,” Zak responded.

“I need to talk to Dean’s friends,” Kendra said.

“In the kitchen with your Alpha.” Zak nodded toward the house.

Kendra turned to Cole. “I have to go,” she told him.

“Yeah, go.”

She smiled at him quickly before she took off. He looked over at Zak and found his friend grinning. “What?” he asked.

“It seems like the two of you made up,” Zak stated.

“Yeah,” he agreed but didn’t elaborate.

“Take a walk with me,” Zak said as he slung his arm around Cole’s shoulder.

They walked farther from the house. Even with the violence from earlier there was still such a strong sense of peace on the property that the wolf side of him was calmer and happy. Cole wasn’t sure why he felt that here, when not even his birth pack had given him the same feeling. This was all confusing and weird, but he needed to think about it later.

“So you seem plenty comfortable in pack territory for a lone wolf,” Zak said.

Or maybe he’d have to talk about it now. “What’s your point?”

“Every time someone brings up the pack you get all twitchy,” Zak answered.

“I don’t get twitchy,” he argued.

“Yeah, bro,” Zak said. “You do.”

Cole wanted to be mad but he couldn’t be. “Okay, maybe.”

“But now you’re sleeping with a shifter inside the inner circle,” Zak said.

“It’s complicated.” And wasn’t that the truth.

“Yeah,” Zak agreed. “However, I gotta say, man. I think you and Kendra look great together. She’s a strong match for you.”

“Thanks. I acted like a jerk earlier but she seems to have forgiven me.”

“I like her. So does everyone else,” Zak told him.

“Then why do you look like you have more to say?” he asked.

Zak frowned. He turned Cole to face out into the woods. “This isn’t as simple as we first thought. The attacks are happening with more frequency and are now affecting the pack, all of the pack. Either Taylor is involved or he’s the real target. No matter which way you look at it—Kendra is in danger.”

He hadn’t thought about that.

“I think I have a feeling that one of the reasons you stay away from the pack is because you don’t think you fit in. You could be an Alpha but you don’t want to. It’s hard for you to follow another Alpha too,” Zak said.

“How do you know?” he questioned.

“Because it takes one to know one,” Zak whispered.

His friend was right. “I’ll protect her, I’ll protect them all.”

“That’s what I thought,” Zak said with a smile. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

Cole gripped Zak’s shoulder. “Thanks, man.”

“It’s not just me,” Zak said. “The others are all out there searching for the scents from the assault. So we’ve got birds, felines, bears and a coyote out there tracking. The smells should still be fresh enough that they pick up on something.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Cole asked.

“Easy, man,” Zak said. “Let Kendra talk to the witnesses and then we’ll join the others. I’ll check in with Jamie and we’ll meet up with them when she’s ready.”

“Thanks.” As Zak walked away Cole went back to staring into the trees. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The rustle of the leaves overhead was all he could hear until the slight break of a twig sounded.

Cole opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to the right. He could see Zak on the phone with his back to the woods. No help there. He pressed his lips together to hold in a snarl. He could smell the slight hint of blood on whoever was watching him.

Instead of walking to the right past Zak, and straight to whoever was hidden, he headed to the left. As soon as he was off the gravel path he sped up and ducked behind a large tree.

He stripped off his clothes before he dropped to his knees. It was easy to start the transformation. He’d had years and years of practice. Cole embraced his animal side and the wild.

His vision sharpened as the forest around him narrowed. He could pick up on so much more in this form. His senses were heightened while purely human, but when he gave in to his wolf, the world around him changed even more.

Cole took off at a run. He raced through the woods until he could see where he’d stood earlier. There was no one around now but the scent was fresh. He could track it. He was in hunter mode.

Male. A wolf shifter.
He broke through a couple of bushes, taking him toward the safe zone. As he chased he could tell his prey had also started to run. The bitter odor of fear grew the farther he ran from the Alpha house.

It was a good thing that he knew the area so well. That gave him a better idea where whoever he was after was heading. Instead of going straight toward the cliffs, Cole knew a shortcut that should bring him in front of the suspect. He picked up his speed but concentrated on his surroundings. The Coalition agents were around somewhere and hopefully they either scented him or his quarry.

The rush of water was louder as he rounded the corner close to the cliffs. No one knew how many caves were in the area but the number of hiding places had to be large. He slowed down, trying to figure out where the suspect wolf shifter was heading. If he didn’t know the area well, Cole would guess he’d go to one of the obvious cave entrances. He could see three from the rise he stood on.

He jumped down onto the rocky edge and listened. The first sound to reach his ears was labored breathing before the echo of bushes being trampled.

Cole gave a wolfy grin. He’d called it right.

Crouching, he waited to pounce.

Even with his heightened sight Cole would have to depend on all his other senses, with the moon not providing enough light for him to see where exactly the shifter was coming from.

The thud of paws alerted him and he launched himself out of the shadows and tackled the fleeing wolf. They both rolled but Cole, having been ready, easily took his suspect by surprise.

The dark-brown wolf tried to claw at his stomach, but Cole gripped the smaller shifter’s neck in his powerful jaws and clamped down. Instantly the wolf shifter went limp, knowing that Cole was bigger and stronger.

He growled to ensure that his message was received. Move or fight and Cole would be on him again.

Cole released his bite before he took a few steps back to get a good look at the cowering male. He breathed deeply to make sure that he had the suspect’s scent in case he ran again. Once satisfied, he lifted his head and howled. A call to anyone close by that he needed help. With the other Coalition agents somewhere in the area he hoped they would respond.

Above him he heard a screech. He narrowed his eyes but finally spotted an eagle flying in his direction. He howled again. The wolf on the ground flinched. Cole settled in to wait for backup.

Luckily it wasn’t long before company arrived. Luca was the first to come stumbling over some rocks. He barely missed running him over.

Cole growled. As a coyote, Luca was a lot smaller than him but there was something about him when he shifted that was just a little on the crazy side. Even Cole would think twice about going up against him in a full battle where they both took their animal forms.

Luca stalked closer to the dark wolf and sniffed him before turning his back. He bobbed his head at Cole before he retreated to the side and began his transformation back to human.

When he was human, so of course naked, Luca grinned at Cole. “Your turn,” he said. “I’ll watch over our friend here while you change. Jamie’s bringing a bagful of clothes.”

Cole rose and strolled over to where Luca had been as Luca moved closer to their catch.

It was as easy to return to human form as it had been to shift into a wolf. He panted while still on his hands and knees. He’d need to eat soon since he’d used so much energy with two transformations close together.

“Don’t pounce!” Jamie shouted.

Cole looked up when Jamie stepped into the small area. The big biker was a happy sight to see. Jamie could shift into a bear but usually he didn’t need to. He was pretty damn intimidating. He dropped a duffle on the ground. “Cover up, guys, I don’t want to see either of you in all your full glory.”

Luca laughed before he came over and helped Cole to his feet. Cole’s legs were a little shaky but he was okay.

“There’s a couple bottles of water and some granola bars too,” Jamie said.

“Thanks, man,” Cole said sincerely.

“So who’s this guy?” Jamie nudged the shifter.

“Don’t know yet,” Cole admitted as he dressed. “He was watching us when we were at the Alpha house.”

“Let’s find out,” Jamie said. He bent down. “Shift,” he demanded of their suspect.

The brown wolf whimpered.

“Shift,” Jamie demanded then growled.

The air around the wolf circled and he changed. It took a little longer than Cole’s but in a few minutes a dirty young man with dishwater blond hair and blue eyes lay shivering in the open. His face was familiar.

“Hello, Trent,” Cole said.

“You’re kidding me.” Luca shook his head. “What are you doing here?” he asked Trent.