Wolves’ Bane (2 page)

Chapter Three

The Prophesy

When Caleb heard the call of the wolf, his gut bottomed out. He had a matter of minutes to find her. He pumped his legs faster, relying on instinct to locate the Huntress
.
If she died, if he failed…well, that just wasn’t an option.

Not this time. Not
his
Huntress.

He had been chosen for this night, and he
would
get to her first.

The wolves were near, closing in, and she was there. Her scent sang to him, her fear torqueing his own a millionfold. She had every right to be terrified—if the wolf got to her first, she was as good as dead.

The mark of the beast that etched Cal’s forearm burned with her proximity. The prophecy had, for once, been clear and non-cryptic—she would be at
this
fair on
this
night, and he would have only moments to save her life.

Cal pulled the cloak from his backpack as he ran. He pushed himself faster, tossing the bag aside once the cloak was free, his gaze darting, searching for a lone woman standing, frightened, with a beast breathing down her neck, ready to strike.

He narrowed his eyes. In the distance, on the outermost edge of the carnival’s borders, near the dark forest that surrounded it, there she stood. The beast’s paws cradling her head—touching what belonged to him. Anger and possessive rage gripped Cal.
She is mine.

He ran toward her, opening the cloak and bellowing his fury. Seconds later, his men returned his call, their own shouts echoing from all around him. The wolf turned its dirty yellow glare in his direction seconds before Cal jumped. He slammed into her with more force than he’d intended but was relieved that the momentum pushed her out of the beast’s grasp as he enveloped her in the cloak.

The roar of rage that followed was like an icy hand gripping his heart. With the Huntress secure in the cloak, the beast would not be able to see or find her. She was safe so long as she wore it. It would disorient the pack enough to give Cal a chance to run with her, because even though she was invisible to them, he was not. Fleeing was the only sure way for her to live.

Cal hoisted her up, tightening his grip as he heaved her over his shoulder. When she started to struggle, he locked her legs in place against his chest. She may not like it, but he was determined to get her to safety, to protect what was his—a thought that had him itching for a little wolfie ass-kicking. Although he couldn’t actually kill the beasts—only the Huntresses could do that—he could leave his mark, and for touching his woman… Yeah, he’d be very happy to embed his blade in ol’ Lazarus’s gut. Shoving that thought aside and with his men falling in to cover them, Cal turned on his heel and ran in the opposite direction, ignoring the instinct to fight in favor of securing the Huntress until they could get her back to the mansion.

Zigzagging at breakneck speed through the maze of tents, trailers and carnival rides was a good way to lose any wolves that dared follow him, but it was also an excellent way to get lost. At least his Huntress wasn’t battling him. Her body moved and swayed with his as he ran. Although it made for an easier trek, her docility was a little disappointing. He had hoped his Huntress would have a little more fire in her.

Cal skidded to a halt when he reached a dead end, cursing at his lousy sense of direction. A peninsula of trees that jutted from the forest loomed before him. As tempting as the notion was, he could just make out their vehicles on the other side of the small stretch of foliage, he couldn’t go in there, not with her anyway. The forest belonged to the beasts.

As if to second that conviction, a wolf called, its eerie howl far too close for his liking. Just as he’d feared, at least one of the pack had broken away from the fight. He needed to get the Huntress to safety, and it would be easier to do if she was running on her own two legs.

He moved back, away from the forest and around one of the carnival trailers, sweeping his gaze over every potential hiding place. Once he was satisfied that nothing lurked in the shadows, he gripped her waist and made ready to lower her from his shoulder when the scraping sound of claws on gravel touched his ears. Cal froze and slowly turned, adjusting the Huntress’s weight in case he had to run again. Peering around the trailer, he caught sight of a lone wolf venturing into the carnival grounds and heading away from them. It was a momentary reprieve. It wouldn’t take the beast long to track his scent. He had no choice. It was time to fight.

Cal moved deeper into the shadows, traveling a few more steps down the length of the trailer before lowering the Huntress as gently as he could, more intent on unsheathing his sword than worrying about whether or not she got a few bruises. The second her body hit the ground, she began grunting and cursing, clearly desperate to get herself out of the cloak. Panic flared as he quickly glanced over his shoulder, half expecting the beast to beeline right for them with all the noise she was making. With a rough curse of his own, Caleb placed his sword on the ground next to him and struggled to release her from the folds of the cloth, cursing even more when he became tangled in her frenzy to be free.

“Will you stay still?” he barked, his frustration growing. “I’m trying to get you out of there.”

Thankfully, she stopped struggling and after a few minutes of tugging, he finally found where the cloth was knotted and yanked it down, the quick movement working to release the rest of it from her head.

She opened her lips as if to scream, so he quickly laid his hand over her mouth. Her eyes flared open with shock. He whispered in her ear for silence.

“There is another beast tracking us. You must remain hidden in the cloak until it passes. No matter what you hear or what you think you hear, you must wear the cloak. If you take it off, you will die. Understand?”

With eyes still wide, she nodded slowly. He motioned with his free hand for her to be silent, then slowly removed the hand that covered her mouth. He repositioned the cloak so that it draped naturally from her shoulders, his fingers grazing the flesh above her breasts as he clasped it closed and raised the hood to cover her head.

Just that mere contact had his body responding to the point of distraction. He was hard for her already, wanting more than just a mistaken touch.
My Huntress.
He held her waist as he lifted her to stand, his hands molding to her flesh so perfectly that he ached to crush her against him, to feel her yielding, soft curves against his body. But this was not the time for fantasy and lust, even if he craved her beyond anything he could ever prepare for, just as the Oracle said he would.

“Now stay here. I’ll return shortly.”

“Wait!” she hissed, her eyes blazing.

Cal turned to face her, doing little to mask his impatience. “What?”

“Who are you?” She didn’t sound scared. In fact, by the look in her eyes, he had a feeling that there was more to her question than he could guess.

“My name is Caleb, your Hunter.”

With a gasp, her eyes wide open once again, she moved toward him, her hand raised as if to stroke his cheek. Cal moved forward, compelled by her action, his body wanting her touch like fire wanted air. Was it possible that she felt the same irresistible pull to him? As the backs of her fingers lightly brushed his jaw, she leaned forward until her lips were inches from his. Okay, maybe
one
kiss—he could afford at least one indulgence.

Her eyes blazed once again. “As if, asshole! Screw you!”

With a swift and well-placed knee thrust, Cal was rocked with such vivid pain that he dropped to the ground in a writhing mess, the dual sensation of wanting to vomit and shit himself slamming him with brutal intensity. But even as wave upon wave of nauseating pain rolled through him, he struggled to stand, biting back his moans, not wanting to attract the attention of the beast, as Cal searched the darkness for her. It was amazing how powerful getting kicked in the sac was, especially when in a state of arousal.
Fucking hell.
The Oracle had warned him this wouldn’t be an easy mission.
No shit.
He’d never hear the end of it from his men.

As the initial shocking pain slowly faded to a throbbing beat, he released his protective grip on his balls and pulled his cell phone from his back pocket, swallowing the saliva that pooled in his mouth and the bile that lodged in his throat.

He flipped open his phone and punched the speed dial, furious with himself for being so damn stupid.
Your Hunter.
What the fuck possessed him to utter those words he couldn’t say. This Huntress was different. Just as the Oracle had warned, she’d grown up outside of
the Order
and away from the rich cultural upbringing that would have prepared her for such a night. She wouldn’t know what a Hunter was other than in the simplest definition of the word, and to someone who thought they were human, a
hunter
could be a very scary thing. Cal cursed his thoughtless comment, knowing that his brain had been so distracted by his body’s
needs
that he hadn’t been thinking straight.

“You lost her, didn’t you?” The cocky voice of his second in command, Lance, pulled him from his thoughts.

“She’s running east.”

“I’m on it.”

Just as he clicked off his phone and slid it back into his pocket, he heard the scrape of claws behind him and felt the puff of rancid breath billow over his neck.
Shit.
He shifted his gaze to his sword, which thankfully still lay at his side, calculating the odds of him getting a strike in before his head was ripped from his neck. Picking up a handful of gravel and sand, he battled his screaming instinct to snatch up his sword and instead spun away from it. Taking the beast by surprise, Cal threw the mixture into its eyes before barreling into its flank, landing jab after jab to its ribcage as he rolled toward his blade, praying this time luck would be on his side.

Chapter Four

Possession

You are marked for death. You are being hunted. Beware of the beast
. The psychic’s words pulsed in my head, consuming my thoughts as I raced away from the carnival grounds toward my home.

I kept flashing quick looks over my shoulder as I ran, putting all of my energy into getting away, terrified that both the man and the beast were following me.

Your hunter.
He had said it so plainly, as if I should just accept that he was there to kill me. I’d reacted purely on instinct, my rattled brain pulling some self-defense move that I had learned years before. I hadn’t stuck around long enough to see the look on his face, but I guessed that he wasn’t too pleased at being kneed in the groin.

Serves him right. He seemed like an asshole anyway.

An asshole who saved your butt from that wolf.

I slowed my pace and glanced one more time over my shoulder. But why did he rescue me from the wolf—the talking wolf—if he only meant to kill me? My thoughts were frantic, muddled, twisting around the facts of the night—facts that could only be possible in some messed-up kind of nightmare. But it was real. The wolf’s drool caked my neck, its gross crust flaking on my skin. And that man, Caleb, well, he was for sure real. It was odd. After the initial shock had worn off I had felt kind of safe in his arms as he carried me. I hadn’t even struggled as he swept me off to god knows where. What the hell was up with that? Such a conflicting feeling considering that he was supposed to be hunting me.

I paused at the corner of my street, panting as the growing hitch in my side threatened to send me crumbling to the curb. “I’m out of shape,” I gasped and lowered my hands to rest above my knees, my body bent over as I sucked air into my lungs with deep gulps.

I realized I still wore the ridiculous cloak that
Caleb
had put on me—was drowning in it in fact, the course wool scratchy against my arms. I stood and fingered the clasp at my neck. He had said that as long as I wore it I would be safe.

But safe from what, or whom?

I glanced over my shoulder again, but there was nothing to indicate that man or beast was following me. I swung my head back and squinted down the street. I could make out my house in the distance. Not far to run, with or without the cloak.

You gonna believe some strange man or you gonna start believing in yourself?

I unclasped the clip and let the cloth slip from my shoulders to the ground. I didn’t want any reminder of this crazy night. It was going to be hard enough to reason away a talking wolf let alone some supposedly protective cloak. I stepped out of the many folds as they pooled at my feet, then took off running again and made it to my house in less than a minute.

I paused at the white picket gate that surrounded my small front yard, the slow creep of fear once again descending. My scalp prickled, goose bumps raised on my flesh. My porch was dark, as usual, and I cursed myself for never getting around to replacing the burnt-out bulb. I squinted into the darkness. Someone was there, standing on my porch.

“Morgan?”

Relief flooded through me as I recognized the voice. “Jimmy?”
And only hours before he was the last man you ever wanted to see.
“Oh my god, Jimmy, you’ll never believe what just happened.”

He stepped off my porch and quickly walked to meet me at the sidewalk. “Are you okay? Rachel called me.”

“Rachel?” My mind was whirling again. How could I have forgotten about my friend?

Jimmy nodded, his gaze soft with concern. “Yeah, she called about a half hour ago. Said that she’s at the hospital.”

“The hospital? Is she okay?” Terror spiked again. What if the wolf or the hunter had gotten Rachel?

Jimmy reached out and gripped my shoulders. “Calm down. Rach will be okay. She’s got a broken arm, nothing serious. She said that there was some crazy panic at the carnival, and that a bunch of people rushed to the exit at the same time. She got caught up in the stampede and was knocked down, trampled a little. She wanted me to make sure you were okay. You weren’t answering your phone.”

I nodded distractedly. Stampede, of course, Rachel had been caught up in that crush of people. The people running from the wolf. The wolf that didn’t exist.

Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself the crusted saliva on your face is all in your head.

I reached into my pocket and yanked out my phone, then stared at the blank screen as if it held all of the answers.

Jimmy turned my hand to look at it. “Yep, see, it’s dead. You should keep your phone charged, Morgan. You never know when you’ll need it.”

I nodded again as I slid it back into my pocket, suddenly feeling even more dazed, and incredibly tired—my brain revving so high on overload that it felt as if it was about to bust open. I looked up at Jimmy.

“I…ah…thanks for coming. I know that I… I mean, it was nice of you to care.” Tears pricked at my eyes and I lowered my gaze to the ground. I couldn’t tell him what had happened. He’d think I was crazy.

Jimmy lifted my chin so that he could look at me. “I was planning on calling you tonight anyway.”

I frowned, new confusion washing over me. “You were? Tonight?”

“I was hoping that maybe we could fix things, you know, work on our friendship.”

My frown deepened. “Friendship?”

“Yes, Morgan,
special friends…
you know,
with benefits
.” He leaned toward me, his eyes shuttered, his lips partly open.

Understanding descended. I pulled my chin away and glared at him. “I can’t have this conversation right now.” Not now, not ever.

“Ah, sweetie, I’m not really interested in a conversation.” He bit his bottom lip, eyes hooded as his gaze dropped to my cleavage.

“You pig! I’m not falling for that again. I can’t believe I bought it the first time. The whole ‘take our friendship to the next level’ bullshit.” I air-quoted the last sentence. Friends with benefits had been the furthest thing on my mind when I’d gotten caught up in my feelings for Jimmy.

“Come on, Morgan, don’t be such a prude.” He moved to touch my arm, but I jerked away. “Listen, we’ve been friends for a long time. I thought you’d want to be with someone who loves you, cares about you. And I do care, Morgan. I just don’t want to be tied down. You know that about me.”

“This is unbelievable,” I said, shaking my head at the absurdity. After the night I’d had, now this? “You can leave now.”

I stormed to my door, looking over my shoulder to shoot one last cold glare in his direction. Movement in the corner of my eye stilled my hand on the knob. I turned fully to face Jimmy, who was staring at me incredulously.

“Really, Morgan, you’re being so dramatic. If you’d just let me explain…”

I took a few steps away from my door to the edge of the porch and looked past Jimmy into the dark night. I tracked the direction where I had seen movement, dread pooling in my stomach once again.

The wolf came out of nowhere, striking Jimmy down, its huge front paws pinning his chest to the ground. I jolted back, instinctively grasping the railing of my porch to steady myself. A scream started from deep in my gut, wrenching from my mouth as I watched the beast lower its massive snout to Jimmy’s neck. Jimmy jerked his head to the side, staring at me with disbelief and unmasked terror as the wolf slammed its teeth into his throat, casting arterial spray over everything. Jimmy opened his mouth in a silent scream, his breath stolen as the beast gorged.

I stood staring, the fleeting thought of how quickly a person could die from one bite, causing my body to tremble. The life faded from Jimmy’s eyes swiftly. The beast stepped off his limp body before sauntering toward me at a leisurely pace. I was frozen once again, no longer able to utter a sound, as if my scream had ripped my voice from my throat.

The wolf stalked closer, its muzzle a gross matting of fur and bloody gore. Its eyes shone yellow, glaring at me, daring me to run. A shudder trailed down my body. The wolf had found me just as that man, Caleb, had warned.

I was steps away from safety. If I could only turn, get my key in the lock, I would be okay. But I knew that I couldn’t move fast enough, that my hands would shake too much for me to make them work. The wolf was almost at the steps of my house, a couple of feet from me. I was too late.

“What do you want from me?” I cried as tears sprang to my eyes, my body vibrating with fear, my gaze darting all around into the darkness as if somewhere out there was my salvation. But no, I’d left my only savior a writhing mess back at the carnival.

When the beast lunged, I covered my head with my hands and braced for the impact.

“Get behind me,” Caleb ordered, his words punctuated by the zinging sound of metal.

I lowered my hands, my body forced back, pressed against the door as a familiar form blocked the wolf from my sight.

“You!” I whispered, in awe once again at the sheer bulk of him. He dwarfed me by at least a foot. Caleb, the hunter.

“Unlock the door,” he growled over his shoulder. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to protect you.”

I peered around his body. The wolf had been joined by others, all growling and snarling, closing in on us quickly. Caleb held a huge sword and he was swinging it from left to right, in a sweeping arc in front of him.

Protect me?

“Open the fucking door, woman.”

I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly yanked the keys from my pocket, steadying my hands before jamming the right key into the lock and twisting the knob. He pushed me back as I opened the door, barreling both of us into the house, and then quickly slammed the door shut behind him.

The wolves howled their anger, bolting up onto the porch and throwing themselves against the door. Caleb twisted the lock into place and slid the deadbolt home then braced himself against the vibrating door as he glared at me. Plastered up against the opposite wall, too terrified to move, I stared back, unsure of what he wanted.

The light from the half moon shone through the skylight, bathing the small foyer in an eerie glow. I squinted at him, my eyes slowly growing accustomed to the dim light. His clothes were in tatters, he had long, blood-encrusted scratches on his exposed flesh and dirt caked his head. He had fought to get to me, had been through hell after I’d left him at the carnival.

Yeah, left him writhing in pain on the ground.
I winced at the memory of kicking him in the groin.

So what? He scared the crap out of you, remember?

The ringing of his cell phone startled me out of my thoughts. He pulled it from his pocket, then swiped his finger across the screen before pressing it to his ear. “What?” He glared over at me. “Where’s the cloak?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and winced. “I left it on the sidewalk up the street.”

He nodded, his eyes blazing with new anger. “Did you hear that? Yeah, okay. Make it quick, they’re blocking the front entrance.” He tapped the phone screen off just as the window to his left shattered and a long paw slithered in and snagged on the window ledge.

He reacted swiftly, swinging his sword down like an axe. The paw landed with a thump on the floor, blood gushing in an arc. The wolf let loose a yowl as it yanked what was left of its leg out the window. I covered my mouth, my eyes wide, shock stopping my throat from working properly or surely I would have screamed.

He dropped his sword into the floor, the sharp point embedded into the wood.

The floor! Hardwood! No, wait, scary wolf.
Oh god.

Caleb’s back was to me, his fingers moving along the door, sweeping up, down, in circles, creating invisible words or symbols. I watched as he traced and retraced the same pattern, my gaze following his fingers so that I could practically see what he was putting there. He was murmuring under his breath as well, his voice a whisper. As I moved a step closer, a sudden current of energy washed over me, tingling my skin, creating goose bumps, pumping my heart back up to the frenzy of moments before.

“What are you doing?” My words were a whisper.

He cocked his head, his fingers still on the door. He spoke to me through clenched teeth. “Get upstairs and pack a bag. Essentials only. As soon as the others get here, we’re leaving. Your home is no longer safe.”

I gaped at him, shock too mild a word for what I was feeling.

He spun so suddenly that I jerked backward, almost falling to the ground. He reached out and gripped my arm before pulling me so close his lips brushed my ear. I gasped as my body responded instantly, my mind locking up with the dizzying effects of lust.

Lust?

I pressed myself against him—suddenly craving his touch more than anything. A stranger, a man I knew nothing about, but wanted so desperately to possess. I slid my free arm around his waist, my hand splayed dangerously close to his butt. The rigid tension of his anger seemed to ease and he panted softly in my ear, a sound that had me burning for more of him in every way.

He pulled his head back until he was looking down at me, his expression suddenly tender. He gently brushed aside my bangs and trailed his fingers down my cheek and along my jaw, his thumb rubbing my bottom lip as he bit his own.

I ran my tongue over his thumb. His answering look of shock had me smiling.

“Why do you keep coming to my rescue, Caleb?” Words coated with sultry tones, like nothing I’d heard myself say before, came whispering out of my mouth.

My voice seemed to snap him out of a trance. He released his hold on me and jerked his head toward the stairs. “Go and get some clothes.” He cleared his throat as he took a step away. “We have to leave.” He pushed me gently. “Hurry.”

I hesitated at the bottom step, staring back at him as my mind fought against my instinct to obey. What had possessed me to come onto him that way? He was hot—I’d give him that. His lips were full, eyes intense, his body built for a UFC ring.

The door trembled under the weight of the wolves’ onslaught, startling me back to reality. I shuddered.
Not safe.
We needed to leave. He nodded over at me one last time before I quickly sprinted up the stairs.