His Perfect Wolf (Mystic Wolves Book 2) (14 page)

Jett shifted on his
feet. “There was an issue while he was taking a piss. I took my eyes off of him
for two seconds. I didn’t think he would try to run
,
not with so many of us.” Jett looked up. “I won’t make excuses, and I’ll
understand if you want to invoke a discipline.”

An audible feminine
gasp had Niall swinging around toward the far side of the sacred circle. He
zeroed in on the young woman hiding b
ehind a clump of
trees. “Come here, now,” he roared.

When she didn’t
immediately comply, he went to go after her.

“She didn’t mean any
harm, Niall. It’s my fault.” Jett grabbed his arm.

“Your distraction
allowed the man who tried to hurt my
mate
to get awa
y.”

A chorus of gasps
filled the night.

Anger showed on Jett’s
features, but his voice was low and steady. “You’re right. I’m sorry, alpha.”
Niall took a deep inhale recognizing the truth of his best friend’s words.
“We’ll discuss this later. For now, we h
ave more
pressing matters to deal with. I need you to go with me to track him. Bronx,
you and the twins stay with the other two. Don’t let them escape. I want
answers as to why they were here.” He shifted again, uncaring if he hadn’t
addressed the elders w
ho’d come.

Rickard’s scent
zigzagged across the woods. The man wasn’t as stupid as they’d thought. Niall
was kicking himself for not realizing he’d fucked up by misjudging an enemy.
When the shifter’s trail began leading him back to his home, his wolf’s ha
ckles went on high alert. A familiar and unwelcome smell
hit him as he crossed his lands. Nolan. Gone was the leader of the pack,
replaced by the father whose child and love of his life was being threatened.

Jett, my boy’s scent is fresh along with
Rickard
’s.

I noticed. Don’t worry, we will save
them.
Jett’s
calm implacable words came through their link.

Cora and I are coming in from the other
side.
Zayn
said.

Niall altered his
trajectory so the light coming from the driveway wouldn’t illuminate him when
he
got
close,
while Jett’s midnight black coat would
blend into the night.

From what he knew of
the enemy, he’d expect Niall to come at him from the front. Unlike Rickard,
Niall wasn’t predictable. He moved through the trees, heading for the back of
his
home. Alaina had opened his bedroom window and he
motioned to Jett, silently communicating he was going in that way. His wolf was
too close to the surface to speak any other way.

Even now, he had
visions of finding one or both of the people he loved broken
and bleeding. His vision turned red, but he shook off the
images. Making his way through the house on silent feet, praying Rickard didn’t
notice his scent.

“You think your
boyfriend is going to save you?” Rickard’s laugh grated on his wolf’s ears.

“Why wo
uld you want to mate with me? Roger is not my father and
this isn’t the stone ages anymore. It’s not done in this day for a…man to marry
off his daughter, or step-daughter to another man,” Alaina’s said.

Niall paused to listen
for his son’s heartbeat.
Nola
n, where
are you?

Dad, I’m scared. Laney saved me. She
woke me up and had me hide in my toy box. There’s a bad guy here. I heard him
hit her, Dad.
Nolan’s voice quavered.
I was gonna help, but she made me pinky
promise to stay inside and said you’d be mad
if I
didn’t listen to her.

You did
good
, Nolan. Stay where you are and don’t
come out unless me, Uncle Zayn or Aunt Cora come get you.

What about Laney?

Niall closed his eyes.
He wasn’t sure how to answer that.
Wasn’t
sure if Rickard would be able to use h
er to get to
his boy.
Even the strongest could get pushed to do things against
their will. He thought of Jett, his strongest enforcer, and silently asked
Alaina to forgive him.
No, Nolan, only me, Uncle Zayn and Aunt
Cora.
Love you, buddy. Now, stay quiet
no matter what you hear.
He cut the connection with Nolan and
shared his son’s whereabouts with his brother.

Through the hallway he
could see Rickard had shifted to human and was shaking Alaina.

“Where are your
fucking keys, bitch?”

Alaina jerked on her
ar
m. “They’re in the bedroom, in my purse.”

Rickard’s head bent
and he sniffed her neck. “He hasn’t marked you. You were good enough to fuck,
but not make you his mate. Now, I have to take you back and mate a used whore.
Maybe I should sample what I’m gettin
g first, hmmm?”

“You’re a sick
bastard. I’ll die before I let you touch me.” She reared back and tried to kick
him.

“Oh, little bitch,
trust and believe that is the plan. I won’t be shackled with you for life, nor
will I be putting my cubs in you. Fuck you
for sure,
but I’ll make damn sure my seed don’t take root.”

Niall watched him lick
Alaina’s cheek, but he waited, knowing Alaina realized he was there and was
leading Rickard to him. He crept backward not willing to allow the man to enter
his room too far
. This was the room he’d made love to
his future mate, and nothing would sour those memories.

He could hear their
footfalls, Rickard’s heavier set, and Alaina’s almost imperceptible ones
getting closer. Finding himself forced to wait didn’t sit well with N
iall.

The door swung open,
exactly as he’d anticipated, and in a flash he pushed Alaina toward the other
side of the room. Her lithe body was prepared and rolled, coming back up into a
fighter’s stance. Goddess, he fell more in love with her.

Alaina, I’m g
oing
to force him out of the house. I want you to get into my truck and get out of
here.

Not gonna happen.

He projected an image
of him snapping his fangs at her, but didn’t have time to argue. Displaced air
signaled the other man shifting into his wolf, m
eeting
Niall in a clash of dominance.

Niall was more than
ready for him, ducking in his wolven form, barely missing the lethal claws. He
raked his own at the underbelly of Rickard, knowing it would enrage the wolf.
Nipping at the flank, Niall maneuvered hi
s opponent
near the open window so that the next move would easily get them into the
position he wanted.

Rickard cried out in a
mixture of anger and pain. The bastard looked around, once again looking to use
Alaina as a shield or to inflict his own brand o
f
damage, Niall suspected. Rickard’s roar, when he noticed she was no longer in
sight, gave Niall the moment he needed, and he struck hard and fast, hitting
the other wolf with the flat of his head in the side of the ribs. They crashed
through the window,
glass shattering around them.

The coppery scent of
blood filled the air.

He came up, shaking
shards of window debris from his fur and eyed the other wolf. Pouring all the
hate he had into his attack, Niall didn’t let Rickard regroup, he snarled and
slashed
. More of the other man’s blood poured down
his paw, a kidney was shredded, and he rejoiced.

By the time Zayn and
several others from his pack arrived, Rickard had curled into a whimpering ball
of fur. Niall shifted back to human, but didn’t clothe himself
completely. He squatted next to Rickard. “You will die for
your sins against my family. Shift.
Now!”

Slowly Rickard obeyed
his command, becoming man again. His wounds were even more severe in his human
form. Niall grabbed him by the back of the neck and p
ulled
him to his feet, thrusting his face into the other man’s. “What have you to say
for yourself?”

“She is my mate by
right. Her father gave her to me. He’s my alpha,” Rickard gasped.

“What the hell are you
talking about?”

“I can answer that.” A
woman
who was an older version of Alaina stepped from
the woods with Emerson and Payton.

Rickard lunged for the
newcomer, halting abruptly when she raised her hand and a bright golden orb
surrounded him.

“Who are you?” Niall
asked.

“My name is Adalynn,
Alaina is
my daughter.”

Niall jolted. The
woman who wielded fey power very similar to Payton was Alaina’s mother. That
would make her related to his Emma. She’d lied to him. A lie by omission was a
lie all the same to him.

He wanted to roar with
agony, but he had t
o put on the alpha face.

Jett, take Rickard back to the circle
and wait for me there. Take everyone with you while I deal with this mess.

Niall, don’t do something stupid. Let
her explain. Remember she didn’t know who she was until recently. I’m sure she
w
as going to tell you.
Zayn tried to reason with him.

When I want your advice, baby brother,
I’ll ask for it.

Aren’t you the one who advised me on my
love life?

Niall had yet to lock
inside of Alaina, and now he didn’t think he’d ever experience the sensation
again. He’d told Zayn being locked inside his mate was the best experience in
the world, and when his first mate had died he thought he’d never know that fee
ling again. The woman he thought would be his mate came out
with Nolan, his son was extolling the awesomeness that was
Laney
to his grandparents,
but he could feel her eyes on him. He turned away from them, looking up at the
moon.

“Dad, are you okay?
Laney
saved me. You should have seen her.”

“I was trying to tell
you when you got called away,” her soft voice came from behind him.

He held his breath.
“That’s convenient.”

Emerson picked up
Nolan, taking him over to where Payton stood, giving him and Alaina s
pace.

“Fuck you, asshole. At
the very least turn and face me. I know you can scent if I’m lying, so do it.”
Her words were barely over a whisper.

“How do I know you
aren’t using your fey powers to manipulate me?”

Several female growls
rang out.

Alaina shov
ed him in the chest. “I don’t have any powers.”

Everything in Niall
stilled. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged her
shoulders.

He looked up to see
Emerson walking off with Nolan. “What the hell is going on,” he croaked.

“Dad, you need to fix
this,” Nolan yel
led, his lower lip quivering.

He cursed their
shifter hearing. “Buddy, I will talk to you in a little bit. Go with your
grandparents.” His son nodded, but he saw tears in his son’s eyes.

“I need to take care
of pack business. When I finish we will talk,” h
e
said looking down into her brown eyes.

Space.
He needed to get away from her and the
smell of orange blossoms mixed with ginger. The cloying scent of the other wolf
was overlaying everything with his coppery blood as well making Niall’s wolf
howl. Hearin
g she was not human like he’d assumed, he
wasn’t sure which way was up and which was down. Without looking back, he
shifted. He’d take care of Rickard and the other two men,
then
he’d deal with Alaina.

At the clearing,
Rickard and the other two pack member
s were on their
knees in human form.