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Authors: Eden Cole

Not My Wolf (7 page)

BOOK: Not My Wolf
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He sat up and headed to the bathroom. There in his medicine cabinet, he pulled out sleeping pills and popped a few into his mouth. He washed them down with water and returned to bed. Forty-five minutes later, he finally fell asleep.

The dreams when they came this time were violent and painful. Someone in the darkness whipped his naked flesh. Aside from the slashes, his wrists burned like they were bound together too tightly. He gritted his teeth to keep from calling out. The pain was unbearable. On and on, the abuse continued, but he couldn’t make out his tormentor’s face. When he opened his eyes wide, all he saw was darkness, and he found it hard to breathe.

A voice came close to his ear and whispered, “Thanks for coming to us and letting us know how important you are. It’s just a matter of time before we get your Alpha Corey.”

He surged up in the bed shouting Devin’s name.

Sunlight poured in through the window. Corey’s head pounded, and his mouth was cottony. He’d learned his lesson about taking too much medication on an empty stomach. When a shower didn’t restore him but at least allowed him to see straight, he dressed and headed toward the main hall for breakfast. The nightmares of the night had been just that, he decided.

After sitting down to his morning meal of eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast, he tucked into it. When half the plate had been consumed, he drained his coffee cup and requested another. The hot liquid spilled over the side, and he looked up to reprimand the woman who served him and found it was Corrin. So she’d found a place to help out. He was glad.

“How’s it going for you here, Corrin? Everything okay?”

The paleness of her beautiful face showed anything but contentment. Corey tried dredging up warmer interest in her but found it lacking. She mumbled an apology for making a mess and mopped it up with rag. “Okay, thanks.”

She turned to walk away, but stopped and looked back at him like she wanted to ask a question but was intimidated. Corey had to admit after last’s night frustration and lack of sleep, he wasn’t in the best of moods. He didn’t have a whole lot of patience for the way Corrin behaved. He’d seen her speaking freely with Devin, and even some of the other women around the homestead. Why did she have to act like he’d chew her head off?

“Was there something else?” he asked, realizing too late his tone was gruff.

She squared her shoulders and approached the table.
Attagirl, you’re a wolf. Act like it.

“I’m worried about Devin,” she blurted out.

The pain in his head intensified. “Of course you are. Look, just like I told him—”

“He didn’t come home last night.”

Corey stopped talking, and a flash of the horrible dream went through his head. He was about to demand more of an explanation from her, when one of his men burst into the main hall, banging the door against the wall. All conversation stopped, and heads turned his way.


Laramie
’s dead!”

Exclamations erupted. Corey surged to his feet and abandoned his breakfast and Corrin. “Show me,” Corey demanded of his man. Several followed as they made their way out to the sight, a few hundred yards past their boundaries. The fact that there had been a fight was obvious.
Blaine
moved up beside him and stooped to brush away crushed leaves and broken branches. A paw print had been left in the dirt. “See that?”
Blaine
said unnecessarily. He took a deep breath, pulling in the scents around them, and Corey did the same.

He picked up a strong whiff of Devin. He could pick it out anywhere. Had Devin been involved in
Laramie
’s murder? Corey didn’t think he would betray them.

“The body’s back here,” his man called. They moved farther into the wooded area which was not policed by his people. On the other side of a narrow stream was
Laramie
—or what was left of him.

Corey swore. The dirt and greenery had been stained red, more than enough there to end even a shifter’s life. He traced the movements of the wolves that had done this by what they had left behind and found more blood.
Blaine
had stayed by his side the entire time, and it seemed they both identified a new problem at the same instance.

Devin’s scent again. Corey stooped and picked up a bit of stained branch. He smelled it, and his canines lengthened and grew longer and pointed in an instant. The dreams he’d had came into sharp focus. “This is Devin’s blood. They have him!”

Rage descended over Corey’s consciousness. He saw nothing but red, and felt desperation to get to Devin. While he lay sleeping, someone had been hurting him,
beating
him. Corey tossed the branch away and charged forward.
Blaine
stepped into his path and gripped his shoulders.

“Hold on. I know you’re upset,”
Blaine
said.

“Get the hell out of my way,” Corey yelled. “I’m more than upset. They have Devin. Don’t you understand?”

Blaine
’s tone remained level. “Yes, I understand perfectly, and I promise you I’ll stay with you until we find him. We
will
find him, Corey,”
Blaine
insisted. “But you can’t go charging out there alone. They want that. We have to gather our men and do this right.”

Corey balled his hands into fists. He stared past
Blaine
, pushing against his hold. He wanted to shift and forget everything except getting to Devin. Anguish must be clear on his face, visible to the few men who had come out with him to this site, but he didn’t care. Devin was all that mattered.

He gave a small nod, and
Blaine
barked orders to the others nearby to gather more men. They would leave in five.

Five minutes was an eternity. “I had another dream,” Corey confessed. “Someone was hurting him.” His voice thickened as the change began. His emotions were out of control, and there was no pulling them back. “They bound him and whipped him. I will rip that person from limb to limb for laying one finger on Devin. He will die tonight.”

They all shifted and headed out to hunt the enemy. Corey stayed well ahead of his pack, running with everything he had.
Blaine
was close behind him, and by late into the night, they sniffed out
Laramie
’s attackers. Corey downed five of the other men before
Blaine
could stop him. “We need one of them to tell us where Devin is,” he explained at Corey’s outraged expression after they’d both shifted to human form.

Corey nodded and grabbed one of the enemies around the neck. He shook the wolf, making his body flop around. “Shift, damn you.”

The man did, gasping for air.

“Where is he?” he demanded. “Where’s the man you took? He belongs to us—to
me
?”

Fear etched the man’s eyes, and it should. Corey was prepared to rip him apart. The man held up shaking hands. “He’s at our camp, five miles from here.”

“Show us.”

He nodded.

They ran on. The moon had hidden behind clouds, but Corey and his men had no trouble picking their way over the mountainous terrain. When they came to an area known for its expanse of caves, the wolf stopped and shifted. “There,” he said. “My Alpha will kill me for this. I can’t go any farther.”

“You don’t have to worry about your Alpha,” Corey told him. He left the man crumpled on the ground.

Corey gave the command. They must know that he and his men were coming, but it didn’t matter. Even if he was outnumbered, he didn’t care. He needed to get to Devin. The closer he’d come to this place, Corey had felt Devin’s emotions. He was in pain, but he was alive. Corey fought his way through until he came to a cave. He picked up Devin’s scent from beyond, so he knew he was there. The other pack’s Alpha stood in his way.

“So this guy I have,” he taunted, “he’s your mate, isn’t he?”

“That’s not your business,” Corey countered.

The man laughed. “I’d heard the Beta of your group was gay, but you? That’s a surprise.” A slow, evil grin spread over his face. “What if I told you I had him last night, that he enjoyed it, and since you rejected him, he came to me?”

To Corey’s surprise the other man’s cock stood out from his naked body, stiff and hard. His own words had turned him on. Was this lifestyle so common? How had he not noticed? Doubt assailed him. Had Devin left him willingly? His chest ached.

“He wouldn’t do that,”
Blaine
interjected. “Devin would not betray his people, and he definitely wouldn’t leave his Alpha.”

Corey was grateful
Blaine
hadn’t indicated Devin was his mate. He wasn’t ready to let everyone else know what he was beginning to accept himself. Devin and he belonged together.

“We only want what belongs to us,” the leader said. “The land.”

Corey ignored his statement. “Were you the one who hurt Devin?”

The man waved a hand. “You should be focusing on this conflict, and how to end it. I know I am.”

“Did you or did you not—hurt—Devin?” Corey repeated.

The man smirked. “He cried like a little girl.”

Corey growled. “No one interfere.” He shifted as he ran for the Alpha. They met in the air, each gnashing with his teeth, clawing, and trying to get the upper hand. Corey was in such a rage, he didn’t feel pain when the other wolf’s teeth came down on his shoulder. He shook him off, rolled with the other animal’s body, and pinned him beneath his paws. Corey went after his neck, but he missed. His opponent flipped him off and bit down on Corey again. This time he did feel the pain of teeth tearing at his muscle. He yelped. Just past the wolf’s shoulder, he saw
Blaine
ready to join the fray, but Corey growled at him.
Blaine
stayed where he was.

The thought of Devin cold and injured in that cave renewed Corey’s strength. He butted the other wolf into a nearby tree, making him dizzy. Corey took the advantage and jumped on his back. He forced the wolf down to the ground and this time got his teeth around his neck. Corey shook his head hard as he clenched. The wolf’s head flopped, and he went silent. When he stopped moving, Corey let go and backed up. Slowly, the other Alpha began to shift back to his human form. His head hung at an awkward angle. He was dead.

Corey wasted no time changing and running toward the cave. Any fights now would be few and halfhearted. The other pack’s leader was gone. The battle was done. He entered the dark cave and picked up on Devin’s scent immediately. Toward the back a pile of blankets lay, and at first Corey didn’t think Devin was among them, but then he moved. Corey hurried inside and fell to his knees. His big, stubborn mate lay with a hood over his head, secured by a rope around his neck. Corey unknotted the rope and yanked the hood off. Devin’s eyes were closed. His hair was tangled about his head, and arms bound. Dried blood stained his side and forehead. His wide, bare chest rose and fell steadily.

When he couldn’t easily get the rope loose that bound Devin’s wrist, Corey called for a knife, and
Blaine
brought it. He cut through the bonds and lowered Devin’s arms before gathering him up to his chest.

“He okay?”
Blaine
asked.

“He will be,” Corey said, pushing the words out and just wanting to be left alone to care for his mate.

“I’ll call ahead for a vehicle,”
Blaine
offered. “You’ll have to carry him to the nearest road.”

“There’s nowhere I wouldn’t carry him if he needed me.” Embarrassed at his sappy words but knowing they were true, Corey turned from his best friend and stood up with Devin in his arms. He began the two mile walk to where someone would pick them up and take them home.

Chapter Six

BOOK: Not My Wolf
7.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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