Mr. Red Riding Hoode: Poconos Pack, Book 2 (5 page)

The Pack shifted, ready to run into the night, play in the snow. Chela embraced her wolf, fur sprouting along her body. There was no blinding flash of light, no sound of crunching, grinding bones. It was more like watching water flow through the person, moving them, bending them, blending them with their animal in a liquid haze of a dream until the man was gone and only the wolf remained. Anyone looking on from the outside would assume the feeling was wet or slimy, but it wasn’t. It was airy and tingled in her palms. It was sensual and innocent in a way a non-shifter could never understand.

Then the wind shifted, and the most alluring scent drifted across her senses. She turned in place, already knowing how the Pack would react to the intruder in their midst.

She just hoped she got to him before any serious damage was done. They might not physically harm him, but they could do a hell of a lot of damage to a mating that hadn’t even taken place yet.

She just hoped she got the chance to explain things to him before he ran all the way to Abu Dhabi.

Steve bolted through the woods, only one word pounding in his brain over and over again.

Werewolves
.

Je-sus
.

Leave it to him to go on vacation in the one place that was chock-full of Team Jacob.

He could hear them baying behind him, hunting him. If he could get to his car, he’d be safe. He’d take off, pretend he never even came here. He could have Ben ship his laptop back to him, right?

Right?

Shit.

Ben had changed into one of them too, and worse, the son of a bitch knew where he lived.

Moscow sounded pretty good. No one would think to look for him there. Except he hated borscht. And the cold.

He was going to miss the hell out of his computer.

Dark shapes streaked past him. Oh, God. They were going to circle him. Circle him and take him down like a wounded deer. His coat had seemed dark enough for the moonless night, but who knew what wolves could see?

Did it look like blood?

Fuuuuck.

Wait. No fuck. No fucking whatsoever.

Graciela had called him her mate, right before she turned fuzzy.

Mate.

He had to let them know he
really
wasn’t into furries. Or pony play.

Would that be wolf play?

Ew.

Lights in the distance caught his attention. He didn’t think the werewolves would want to ick out their guests by feasting on his gory remains in front of them.

This was what he got for wanting to see a pretty girl get naked. He was never going to look at naked girls again.

She’d been awfully pretty, though—

A howl rent the night air, and Steve shuddered.

I’m dog food.

He stumbled into the open, his breath coming in freezing pants, his legs numb from the knees down from plowing through the snow. There. The car park. If he could just get to…

Shit, fuck and damn.

Ben was leaning against his car, buck naked. The hood was up, and his ex-best friend was holding something that looked suspiciously like wires. Ben held up his hands, his expression wary. “It’s okay, Steve.”

Steve didn’t even hesitate. He veered off, heading for the front doors of the lodge. If he could get inside, maybe he could call for help. The National Guard would know how to deal with this, right?

Did they even have silver bullets?

Fuuuck.

He was almost to the door before he realized Dave was there, the huge man’s arms crossed over his chest. The floodlights outside lit the grin on his face, making his teeth gleam. Apparently he ran faster than Ben, because he was wearing unbuttoned jeans. At least he wasn’t rubbing his bare ass up against the glass.

Ben’s naked ass had been on his car.

Ew.

Wait. Were those fangs in Dave’s mouth?

Steve wasn’t hanging around to find out. He booked it for one of the other doors leading into the lodge.

Before he got three steps, a small wolf stepped in his path. Steve instinctively veered away, unwilling to get his ass bitten for stepping on its tail. He slid on some ice, going down on said ass with a grunt.

The wolf settled itself down, laying its muzzle on its paws with a soft whine.

Steve sat there, his butt sore even through the padding of his coat, and stared.

The wolf wagged its tail, a pup ready to play. Tag, maybe?

He had a sudden vision of himself as the rope in a tug-of-war game.

Steve almost hyperventilated and tried to booty-scoot away. “Uh. Nice puppy.”

He could almost swear the wolf rolled its eyes.

Steve continued to butt-walk backward until he hit something that felt suspiciously like legs. He looked up and got an eyeful of a part of Rick Lowell he never wanted to see again. “Ugh.”

Rick rolled his eyes and crouched down next to him. “No one is going to hurt you.”

Steve might have felt better about that if Rick hadn’t wrapped a massive paw around the back of his neck. “So you’ll kill me quick?”

Rick sighed, the sound full of exasperation. “See that little wolf over there?”

“You mean the one with its butt up in the air?”

The little wolf looked ready to pounce on him. Was this the pack alpha or something?

“That’s Chela.”

He blinked, then shook his head and blinked again. “She’s your alpha?”

Rick started to laugh. “No. I’m alpha.”

That, at least, made sense. Rick had presence, that special something that made other people sit up and take notice even when he wasn’t speaking.

“Hey, Stevie.” Ben settled on the cold, hard ground next to him. “You okay?”

Steve shot him a disbelieving look. “What do you think, asshole?” He blinked in shock. Was he seriously baiting a wolf? “Forget I said that.”

Ben bit his lip. The son of a bitch was this close to laughing while Steve was still debating whether or not he was terrified enough to pee his pants. “If
I
told you that you’re safe, would you believe me?”

“Dude. You’re
Team Jacob
.”

He recognized that laugh. Dave had joined them and now crouched behind Ben, who’d begun to shiver. “You’re a Jacob fan?”

Ben glared at his lover. “You aren’t?”

“Nope.”

“You like that emo vampire?”

“I’m more Team Winchester. Those boys are
hot
.” Dave grinned and winked at Steve, obviously trying to reassure him that all this was nothing more than a bad dream brought on by bad oysters or something. After all, everyone was naked.

Except usually it was Steve who was naked in those kinds of nightmares. “Can I go now?”

Ben grimaced. “We…kinda tore a part out of your car.”

“I don’t think you’ll be leaving for a while.” Why the fuck did Dave have to look so smug?

“Listen to me.” There was something about Rick’s voice that had Steve snapping to attention. “You know what we are now.”

Yeah. That was why Steve was considering a lifetime trip to Moscow.

“We are the Poconos Pack, Wolves who have been in this area for centuries. I am their Alpha, their leader. Ben is our Marshal, our enforcer if you will. The Pack’s physical well-being is in his hands. Dave is my Beta, my second-in-command, and Ben’s mate.”

Mate
. That was the word Graciela had used just before she’d…

He swallowed hard. He wasn’t ready to think about that yet. His gaze drifted over to the little wolf who was suddenly a lot closer than she’d been a moment before. He could just make out the gleam of her golden eyes as she settled down in front of him, much as she had when she’d first run out in front of him. Only this time her gaze kept darting between himself and Rick.

Oh God. It really was Graciela.

“Ted is the Marshal’s Second. He acts as Ben’s Beta, if you will, enforcing the law and helping to see to the Pack’s well-being. He has as much say as the Beta, Marshal and Omega in how the Pack is run.”

“And Graciela?” His voice sounded gravelly and loud as hell.

“She’s the Pack Omega.”

Something in him tightened at that. Even he knew that in wolf packs the omega was the one who got to eat last, the one who got beat up on when the other members needed to work out their aggressions. He didn’t like that.

He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t like it one little bit.

Rick must have felt the way he stiffened, because he continued in a quieter tone. “Chela is a treasured member of the Pack. The Omega sees to the emotional needs of the Pack, ensuring that it remains happy and healthy on a mental scale. She works closely with Ben to see to it that everyone has what they need, and if they find problems, they bring them either to me or Dave.”

“Congratulations! You’re her mate.”

Ben sighed, but his gaze never left Steve’s face. “Goddamn it, Dave. Can we give him a second to breathe?”

Steve nodded, then pulled up his hood. Breathing was good. He figured it would give him a few more minutes of life before they found his frozen corpse somewhere in the woods, because this had to be one of those life-and-death hallucinations he’d read about.

It was the only thing that made sense, really. He’d die, they’d find a Stevecicle, and they’d send flowers, the end. He closed his eyes and prayed his ass would stop hurting.

He should have gone to Bermuda.

Chela glared at Dave and snarled as her mate passed out.

“What?”

She chuffed at him. This was why she didn’t let her Packmates deal with the straights.

Chapter Four

“Go away, Ben!”

Chela shook her head as Steve bellowed at Ben through the closed doors. Because of his severe freak-out, they’d decided to move him to one of the employee cabins until they could get him to calm down.

Instead, he’d gone ape-shit, locking himself inside the cabin and refusing to come out at all, even with bribes of steak. Hell, Dave had stood under his window and sung “Kumbaya” for hours, scaring away birds and causing the rest of the Pack to hide in the lodge, hands over their ears, until he gave up.

Steve had done absolutely nothing, and that had scared Ben more than he was willing to admit.

Chela rolled her eyes. She could already feel that, after three days of Ben’s begging and Dave’s laughing, the fear was slowly turning into annoyance. Rick had stayed out of it, allowing the men who knew Steve best to get him past his fears, but she was pretty sure the Alpha wouldn’t stay out of it for much longer. He wanted this resolved and his Pack back to normal.

Most of all, he wanted Dave to promise never to sing again.

Ever.

Chela, however, was done waiting. She wanted her mate, and damn if she wasn’t going to get him.

Chela leaned up against the side of the cabin, wishing she could just walk through the door and greet her mate the way she wanted to. If she could bite him, he’d feel the mating pull and all of this would be just a weird memory. “Give me his cell phone number.”

Ben sighed. “He’s refusing to answer.”

“You think I’m going to call him?” Chela gave him her best Belle look, enjoying the all-over shudder that ran over him.

“Shit. Here. Just don’t do anything I’ll regret.”

Chela put the number in her phone and immediately began typing. She hit send with a grin.

“What the fuck?”

The confusion they heard through the door had Ben giving her the evil eye. “What did you do?”

She shrugged and started typing again, hitting send when Ben tried to look over her shoulder. “Nuffing.”

“Chel.”

“Trust me.”

She could already feel the amusement warring with the fear and annoyance in the man behind the locked door. Chela bit her lip to hide her smile and sent another picture.

Bless you, Belle. This was the best idea ever.
It had taken her a few hours to gather all the images and quotes and load them on her phone, but she was willing to bet this would be what broke the ice with her frightened mate.

The amusement was fading. Time to send the next picture.

When Ben saw what she was sending Steve, he started to chuckle. “Droopy Dog? Really?”

She typed out the quick message in her best Droopy.
Hello, all you happy people. You know what? I’m the hero.

She could almost hear the snicker, but he didn’t respond, so she sent him another cartoon dog. This one was just a simple GIF of a puppy wagging its tail, with the message,
Please come out to play with me?

The response was swift and decisive.
No.

She sent him Marvin the Martian and his green dog, K9.
Aw, c’mon. How can you resist that face?

His amusement spiked, but he still sent her
No
.

This time she sent him the Grinch and Max.
You’re mean.