Caged Wolf (Wolves of Willow Bend Book 2) (16 page)

His wolf scrabbled within him, the animal’s restless surges gaining his attention.
I’m overthinking this…
The wolf agreed. It didn’t matter what direction she went in.

They could find her. If he used his—the wolf’s—senses, he would find her. Tearing out of the room, he scented the wolf only seconds before he saw him. Owen stood in the center of the clearing before the cabin.

His ice blue eyes glowed in the rapidly decreasing light. “Where is she?”

“I’ll find her.” The last thing he needed was the Hunter intervening. He had his orders and they included keeping Vivian at the cabin.

“No, we will. She disobeyed the directive she was given. Stay—”

Slicing his hand through the air, he cut Owen off. If the Hunters were loosed, they’d run her down and, even if their intention wasn’t to kill, they’d scare the hell out of her. A.J. wouldn’t let that happen. No other males were going after Vivian. None.  “Get out of my way, Owen.”

“I can’t do that.”

A.J.’s wolf was in his eyes again. He didn’t have to blink to know the animal faced off against the Hunter. Owen possessed a silent, towering strength. He was used to being obeyed. For years, A.J. had to make himself smaller, forced who he was into the darkest, loneliest part of his soul and locked it away. It was that or kill every human that touched him, out their kind to the world and court death. He’d protected his pack. He’d protected his family.

By God, he would protect his mate. “Move, Owen. Or I’ll move you.” Throwing the challenge down, he walked toward the other wolf, striding for the woods and the promise of Vivian’s scent.

The Hunter didn’t move.

Their collision was inevitable, but A.J. refused to stuff himself back into the box. Though bigger and in better shape, A.J.’s blow knocked Owen back. He didn’t slow, he struck again. Driving his shoulder into the larger man’s gut, he lifted him off his feet and threw him. Owen hit the ground and rolled, achieving his feet in a purely fluid motion. His fist cracked into the side of A.J.’s face and the taste of copper filled his mouth.

Owen seized A.J’s arm, but he twisted, slamming his fist into the Owen’s elbow joint. The blow paralyzed the nerve and the Hunter’s hand spasmed. They’d fought in near silence, but the Hunter was the first to growl. Bigger, and definitely stronger, Owen would be a tough opponent on a good day.

This wasn’t a good day. A.J. poured all of his rage, sense of injustice, and forced helplessness of the last several years into every blow. They were both panting, and bleeding heavily, but neither refused to give. Every strike simply fired his temper, cost him more time, and left Vivian alone longer.

Their battle had to end.

Spinning, he did something he’d only ever seen once in the prison yard between two rival inmates who were so evenly matched. He dropped below Owen’s guard and hit his legs, rolling into them and knocking him down. Scissoring his legs around Owen’s throat, he grabbed his arm. Exerting pressure, he fought to keep his arms still while he knocked the man out.

“Give in,” he ordered the Hunter. He didn’t want to kill him. “Vivian is
mine
.” He spit. “I
will
find her. Give in.”

Their gazes locked and A.J. bared his teeth, the growl rumbling through him one of raging defiance.

“Peace,” Owen offered, ceasing the fight. It wasn’t a yield or a surrender, but it was enough.

Releasing him, A.J. rose to his feet and glared down at the Hunter.

“She’s your mate?”

“Yes.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” He scowled, but when A.J. held out his hand, Owen took it. He hauled the Hunter to his feet.

“Because it’s none of your business.”

“Go. Get your mate. This fight? We’ll finish it another day.”

Pack bonds were invaluable. They were by no means done with each other, but Owen’s willingness to help him was what pack did. “Done.” He didn’t wait for the Hunter’s response before sprinting into the woods.

His injuries pulsed in time to his heartbeat, yet exhilaration burned through him. One obstacle overcome, he was free to hunt his mate, to track her down, and bring her back where she belonged. As soon as he hit the tree line, he slowed. The sun fell lower on the horizon, leaving the woods cast in twilight darkness. Closing his eyes, he used his other senses.

All he needed was a trace of her scent. Piney woods, loamy earth, sun warmed stone, and dozens of birds and smaller game filled the air. Identifying and discarding them one by one, he sorted through the wildness in the scents. Too long he’d been stuck in the stench of the prison. The open air here fed his beast like nectar, but he wanted to feed his soul with one scent.

Growling, he opened his eyes and scanned the area. No strawberry taste to tease him with her path. Choosing a direction, he began to circle the cabin. Somewhere there was a path she’d chosen. They had to find her.

The wolf bucked inside of him, but A.J. shrugged him off. Vivian. They had to focus on her.

Again, the wolf resisted, beating against A.J.’s insides. His muscles contorted and a brutal cramp seized his calf muscles. Falling to his knees, he tried to withstand the animal’s crushing need.
Vivian, dammit. We have to find Vivian.
His wolf should grasp the need, she was their—understanding kindled within him. Of course the wolf understood and they were faster on four feet than two.

Still, A.J. hesitated. He hadn’t let his wolf loose in years much less shifted. What if he couldn’t? The animal’s impatience burned inside of him. It didn’t care about anything except getting to Vivian. The rest was just so much noise.

Decision made, he stripped off his shirt, toed off his shoes and finally his jeans. Leaving the clothes in a heap, he sucked in several deep breaths. Sweat slicked his skin, and agitation sparked on the end of every nerve.

How the fuck do I shift?
The thought, so alien and yet, echoing with deep truth stabbed him. So much energy he’d expended to not shift, to hold his wolf in, to forget he even
was
a wolf. Now, he needed to do it and he couldn’t quite remember…

Every muscle on his body screamed and he arched backward as the wolf rushed upward, the rusted chains holding him shattered under the raw need to leave behind his cage and be free. A.J. fell onto his hands and knees, and still the fur didn’t sprout. His bones snapped and his skin slid, but he couldn’t—then the pack was there, in his soul. His brothers. His sister. His parents. Owen. More distantly, he could feel Mason, and through him, everyone else. Their strength flooded him.

The shift hit him with force then. Agony and ecstasy firing every nerve as he sank into the wolf or maybe the wolf consumed him. Shift completed, he rose on trembling legs and then shook,. His legs steadied and he raised his head. Every scent sharpened, the world narrowed in focus and, just on the edge of his awareness, was the faint trace of strawberries.

Mouth open, he tasted the world around him and stalked toward the scent, tracking the trace until he found the spot she’d crashed into the woods. Ears pointed toward the path she’d taken, he lunged forward and began to run. It was awkward as hell and he was grateful no one could see their limping gate, but he didn’t care about it so much.

It wasn’t slowing him terribly.

And they had a mate to find.

Following her scent trail, he raced through the woods. A part of him wanted to pause and play, but the whole of him wanted to find Vivian. Find her, claim her, and then figure out how to fix her. The needs of the wolf were pretty basic and, if he were honest with himself, A.J.’s needs were even simpler.

He wanted her. Wanted to go to bed with her, wake up to her, spend time with her, and explore what life could be like together. If she died? If some brain tumor thing took her away?

Well, we’ll die together.
His family would fight him, maybe his Alpha would, too. But they didn’t matter, all that mattered was his mate. The rich sweetness of strawberries burst over his senses and he knew he was close. Slowing, he concentrated on listening. Few predators moved in the pack lands. The occasional bear, some wild wolves, and once a very ornery set of lynxes, but Hunters like Owen knew when those predators ventured too close and the whole of the pack had the area pretty well scent-marked.

A rustle of leaves and the grunt of a woman’s frustrated muttering reached his ears. Relief stroked him. Only irritation, not pain, marked her voice. Stalking forward, he located her easily. She sat on a fallen log, a flashlight in her hand and an old map in her lap.

She looked beautiful. Her dark hair with its rich streaks of red and gold fell in a wild disarray over her shoulders. More than a few twigs decorated the tumble. Dirt streaked one cheek. Her face was still too hollow, but she looked
healthier
than she had even the day before.

Satisfied no harm had come to her, he let his irritation with her choice come to the fore. Leaving his cover behind the tree, he paced to her feet and glared up. So unaware of her surroundings, she didn’t notice him immediately. When her gaze fell on him, she let out a strangled yell of surprise and scrambled off the log.

If he wasn’t so put out with her, it might have been funny. Sitting, he reduced the amount of threat, and stared at her.

“Oh my God, you scared the crap out of me.”

That makes two of us, sweetheart.
Since he couldn’t talk, he settled for a couple of panting breaths and a flick of his ears.

“A.J.?” She eased to her feet from the sprawl only to sit abruptly on the log. Rising, he paced to her and rubbed his head against her leg. She ran her fingers over his fur and he closed his eyes, drinking in the touch of his mate. “Oh, that really is you.” Breathless wonder punctuated the words. He opened his eyes to see her using the flashlight. Thankfully, she avoided blinding him. “You’re beautiful.”

Not half as much as she, but he didn’t mind the appreciation. He liked pleasing her. Still, she’d run and he’d had to chase after her. He growled and lifted his head to meet her gaze.

“I know, we said no more about the past.” Well, at least she understood why he wasn’t happy with her. “This wasn’t about the past. Well, not totally.” No lie. She truly believed what she said, so he chose to believe it too.  Bumping her hand with his head, he waited for her to continue.

She stroked his fur and sighed. “It’s the becoming a wolf thing.” A hint of fear and unease stained her scent. Okay, they could work that part out. He should have presented it to her better. “Then there’s the you’re in trouble with your Alpha thing.”

No, that wasn’t a thing at all. So he growled.

“Don’t give me that look.” She tapped his nose with her finger, and he couldn’t help it, he had to grin. After her initial shock wore off, she had no problems with his wolf. He was so stupid. Of course she didn’t, she was his mate. His mate who kept his secrets. Who fought for him. Who obeyed him even when she’d disagreed with his choices.

Who pined for me…

Dumbfounded, he stared at her.
Mates
. They’d mated that very first night. No they hadn’t completed the dance, but she’d been on the ground, bleeding. Tears drenched her face. The dead man lay a foot away from her, and her hands had been slick with the bastard’s blood.

Kneeling down, A.J. had taken her face in his hands and coaxed her traumatized gaze up to meet his. The imprint. He’d known without a shadow of a doubt, whatever she needed, he’d give it to her.
And I didn’t even know her name then…
He’d imprinted on her and she on him. Then prison. His wolf’s wildness, and his violent suppression to keep his beast in check. He’d halved himself, crippled his baser instincts as surely as if he’d amputated a limb.

I had some issues—have some issues. I—I thought I was losing my mind. I’d go into these…Nathanial called them dissociative fugues. Once, I disappeared for almost two days and I woke up in Castlewood. It’s a state park. I had dirt under my nails and leaves in my hair. I had no idea where I was, apparently miles from the road. Took me half a day of hiking to find a person. After that, I started tying myself to my bed at night.

She didn’t have a brain tumor. Certainty flooded him. His mate had been pining for him, reaching for a nascent bond that hadn’t been given time to flourish—but had certainly had years of neglect to become a wound. The fugues had been her brain trying to compensate and failing. On the heels of the revelation, excitement poured into him. He shook with it and opened his mouth to explain, but the half-barking growl that escaped wasn’t words.

“I’m sorry,” Vivian said. “I was actually sitting here trying to figure out how to get back. I have a terrible sense of direction. I left because I wanted them to not kill you. I thought if they hunted me, then couldn’t come after you.”

He was so spanking her ass for that later. Much later.

“But I couldn’t.” The three words intrigued him. “I couldn’t leave you. But I got lost.” The admission seemed to cost her. Her color was high. Embarrassed. She was embarrassed. “Are you really sure you want me around? I’m a lot of trouble, terrible at directions. I can’t even kill insects.”

Indulgence filled him. He had a great sense of direction, and zero problem with killing anything threatening her.

“I write software for a living, make games, I don’t go out. I hide in my apartment…and I get lost in the woods. Apparently a lot.” She fisted her hair. “But I love you.”

Everything in him went still.

“I’ve loved you for a really long time. I just didn’t know how to put what I felt for you into words. And you’re so magnificent. Can I hug you?” She leaped from conversational stone to stone, as though dropping verbal boulders across the stream of her thoughts. He followed easily and pressed up to her. When her arms came around him, he sighed and he opened his heart to her, every piece. The burn in his chest stole his breath and he heard her gasp. The nascent bond flared to life and suddenly he could feel her heart, beating right next to his where she should have always been.

“Wow,” Vivian whispered, then rubbed at her chest. Her gaze went stricken all of a sudden. “Oh God, it’s like I can feel you. Oh, please, don’t be a delusion…”