Should have Put a Leash On It (19 page)

He took one more step, coming right up to the corner’s edge, back flat against the inner wall. If Rylan came around the corner now, it would be right in front of him. Micah shuffled the tiniest bit more, purposely making his clothes rustle so that Rylan might think he was preparing to attack. Rylan had to come around this corner and soon before their ruse was exposed. Mars and Hunter could only pull off being dead for so long until Rylan began to pick up on the subtle signs of life. Such as breathing and a heartbeat.

His bait worked. A little too well.

The edge of the blunt blade suddenly pressed against his throat as Rylan flew at him with the speed of a practiced fighter. That was another thing he hadn’t fully appreciated about Rylan until he was forced to evaluate him as a threat. Rylan was one hell of a good fighter. Which made it even more important to put on a good show. It wouldn’t only take a single tiny mistake for Rylan to smell a rat and for all of this to be worth nothing.

Micah looked deep into Rylan’s eyes and even though the vibrant sparks of color he loved weren’t there, there was something he couldn’t put his finger on. If Rylan was really in there somewhere he didn’t want him to suffer through this.

Rylan still didn’t move and Micah got the feeling he was fighting the compulsion again like he had done earlier with Remy. There was no way Rylan was willingly letting the compulsion to kill them get the better of him. Micah swore he could feel the barest of tremors running though Rylan’s arm—the one holding the knife to his throat.

Even though the blade was dull, it hurt as it dug into his neck. It almost cut him as he swallowed.

“Trust me,” he reminded Rylan in case he was aware.

Pushing the knife away from his throat Micah turned and hip checked Rylan, sending the other male crashing into the wall.

Rylan raised the gun as Micah had planned and pointed it straight at his chest. Micah just had time to wink before Rylan closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

Playing the part, Micah cried out, clutching his chest and activating one of the small packets of blood bags. Blood splattered over his torso and he stumbled back.

Everyone with a part in this production had donated blood. Asher’s obsession with action movies had turned out to be a hell of an advantage. And Ryder had come through as well, working with Remy to set up a rudimentary special effects blood bag system that would cause the bag to burst when Micah pressed the button on the little remote in his right hand. Under his shirt, the stab vest was rigged up with all sorts of wires and several bags of his blood. It would be more than enough to convince Rylan, and more importantly the programming Trevor had conditioned into Rylan, that they were dead.

Rylan shot him again and he triggered another blood bag. Collapsing to the floor, Micah made sure to land face up and keep his eyes closed. It had to be real. He hated this, but he had to remember that this might be the only way to get Rylan back at all.

He kept his eyes closed as Rylan hesitated near him.

His wolf ached to go to their mate and comfort him, to fight off whatever demons were in his head hurting him. But he silenced his beast with the promise of vengeance. Rylan would lead them to Trevor—the one that had branded and tortured his mate. They would glory in the victory of Trevor’s blood.

Soon.

His lungs were burning with the need to suck in oxygen, but he couldn’t yet, he was sure Rylan was staring down at him. Despite the pain and the panicked need to breathe, Micah forced himself to stay limp and unresponsive.

After another moment, Rylan walked on and the footsteps moved away from him toward Remy’s room.

Heart feeling like it was going to explode, Micah slowly drew in a breath. It was time for Remy’s solo. This one, more than any of the rest of their
deaths
had to be convincing.

When he didn’t hear anything he began to worry that maybe they hadn’t been as convincing as he thought. Rylan should be in Remy’s room by now and his brother should be in the middle of his big death scene.

Just as he was about to break his cover and go and investigate he heard Remy cry out. “Ow. You stabbed me! Oh, it hurts.” He rolled his eyes at the pitiful and grossly over dramatic tone.

Remy better not be holding out for an Oscar.

He counted three gunshots and still Remy moaned in pain.

At this rate Micah was going to have to go and shoot Remy himself just to get him to shut up.

He barely had enough time to take another lungful of air before Rylan came running back in his direction. He didn’t dare open his eyes to look until he heard Gabriel roar. Gabriel and Ryder were supposed to come up the main stairs shouting, to make Rylan go after them instead of trying to escape via the back stairs. That way no one would be in the line of fire so to speak.

Everyone in the pack had been told that there was a training drill where the pack members would hunt for things that Sage and Asher had hidden in the forest at the back of the property. The prize for the most things found was the person’s rent or bills paid for the whole winter. Another one of Remy’s bright ideas. The hunt would continue until Sage and Asher stopped hiding scent markers and called an end to it. The families in the pack would be especially eager to win the prize. It was incentive enough to keep everyone away from the front of the house.

There was another gunshot and he heard Ryder howl.

A few minutes later his phone buzzed with a message. Micah got to his feet and checked. It was Ashlock. Rylan had exited the house and was heading south.

That was weird. South led further into pack territory.

He turned when he heard a noise and saw Remy coming out of his room. Remy’s initial appearance shocked him enough that he almost dropped the phone. “Shit. That’s a little too convincing for my comfort. Put your guts away.”

Remy laughed and wiggled the flopping intestines that hung out of the torn shirt. This was way too weird. Asher had had the idea to get real guts from the butcher in town to make a really horrifying show. They made Remy’s stab vest with both blood bags and a small sack made of cling film that would easily break upon impact. All Remy had to do was make sure Rylan hit him in the stomach with the knife.

“That’s disgusting.” The blood saturated Remy’s shirt and sent droplets flying everywhere when Remy shimmied again. Micah really couldn’t put his finger on why he had trouble remembering Remy was all grown up.

“I know, isn’t it cool!”

Micah shook his head and walked away. Remy followed and they made their way around the corner.

The scene that greeted them was one out of a horror movie. Blood dripped down the wall while Hunter and Mars lay unmoving and still with blood all over them and the floor around them. Those little bags of blood sure did go far.

He whistled and motioned that the coast was clear. Hunter and Mars popped an eye open to peek. “We’re good to go. Get changed. Ashlock is tailing Rylan and keeping me updated. Remy, call Skylar. He’s bound to want to hear your voice because he can’t actually see what’s going on.”

Remy nodded and went off to do just that. And hopefully get rid of that damn vest. How Remy could stand to have animal guts touching his skin was beyond him.

He shuddered. Disgusting.

Things hadn’t gone as smoothly as he’d hoped. Rylan had indeed gone deeper into Remy’s territory. In fact he’d gone straight to where Michael, Saffron and Rosemary were staying. They had chosen to move out temporarily after Rylan came home until he was himself again.

There was no way they’d have been able to keep the pups away from their Uncle Rylan if they were close by in the massive pool house. Hell, Micah could have fit his whole house and garden in Remy’s pool house. His little bro had a hell of a knack for investing.

Micah hated that the bastard was getting information from inside the pack. Michael had followed the student and father, but hadn’t reported anything amiss or suspicion. The sneaky fucker was being very careful. Still, the whole inner circle was convinced the father was in this up to his neck. They just had to wait and see if the man led them to any other traitors.

According to Ashlock, Rylan hadn’t deviated from his path until he reached the temporary house where their sisters and pups were stashed. Micah, Remy, Hunter and Ryder had run in wolf form all way there only to arrive and find Rylan and Ashlock were nowhere to be found.

The four of them were currently at the top of a mud bank, hiding in the snow and waiting for another message from Ashlock so that they had some direction. Remy appeared relaxed, but Micah knew better, his scent told the real story. Remy was as stressed as the rest of them.

Gabriel and Mars had reluctantly stayed behind in case Rylan returned to the Alpha House. Remy wanted all the bases covered and Micah didn’t blame him. The threat against the pups was making them all incredibly edgy.

“He needs to be put down,” Hunter insisted as they waited for an update from Ashlock. “He’s going after the pups.”

“You don’t know that,” Micah argued, growling and snapping his teeth at the other wolf. Hunter backed off, holding his hands up in surrender.

Despite what he said, it was clear where Rylan was going. And since he was still working under Trevor’s directives, Rylan going anywhere near the Saffron and Rosemary and their children wasn’t going to end well.

His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. Ashlock said that Rylan had got as far as the front porch and frozen completely before shaking and running in the opposite direction. It was the last words that worried him the most. Rylan was bleeding from his ears.

Micah had a suspicion that Rylan himself was cracking the conditioning just enough to make himself hesitate like he had before. Rylan was giving them time to stop him. Except...Micah knew they wouldn’t get there in time.

There was no way in hell Rylan would hurt those pups, as long as he had breath in his body—he loved them like younger siblings and had grown fiercely protective of them. In fact, one time a pack member had dared to say that six-year-olds Clover and Cinnamon shouldn’t be allowed to play the piano if they were going to murder the classics. Cinnamon had cried. Needless to say that person had found themselves with a doorstep full of horse manure.

“What’s happening?”

Micah didn’t look at Hunter to answer. He kept his gaze firmly fixed ahead of them. “Ashlock said that Rylan is heading toward the pack boundary,” he answered, omitting some of Ashlock’s information.

His voice was flat and devoid of the deep pulsating anger and fear.

Having Rylan so far away from him was making his wolf buck against his control. He was fighting his wolf’s instinct to track down his mate and put him in a protective bubble.

“Stay strong, Micah. Trust Rylan,” Remy said, telling him with a look to calm down.

“Well, considering Rylan thinks he killed us all,
how
exactly can we trust him?” Hunter’s question hit a nerve and Micah growled again. He was seriously starting to regret letting the others stop him from strangling Hunter.

“Watch it or I’ll make your death scene more permanent,” he snapped.

Ryder remained silent, but Micah got the feeling that Ryder was sitting on the fence on the issue. Hunter gave him the finger and continued crawling forward to see further over the top of the bank as they heard a car engine draw near. They were still hiding in case Trevor had any eyes out here in the forest.

His phone rang barely a second later.

Micah accepted the call. “What’s happened?” He didn’t bother putting it on speaker as the others huddled around him so they could hear as well.

Ashlock wouldn’t be calling unless something had gone wrong. It would be no good Ashlock tailing Rylan only for Rylan to hear him talking to them on the phone.

“I don’t know. Rylan kept stopping and starting all the way to the safe house and then had a total breakdown. He was muttering and blood trailed from his ears and nose. I was right behind him until he got to the road and a car pulled up. He got in and they took off. I’m still following and we’re heading back your way. You should be able to intercept them if you move quickly.”

The others heard what Ashlock said and lay down on the snowbank overlooking the road Ashlock had to be talking about. This road was the only one that passed the safe house. Lying down would keep them from being spotted from below. The clothes they’d taken from the house once they’d shifted back were soaked through. It was a good thing wolf shifters were more accustomed to snow and colder climates. Even then, they needed to do something soon otherwise they’d be at risk of hypothermia.

Hearing the roar of the approaching car had him looking to Remy. His brother gave him a negative shake of the head. Micah agreed, there was no way they’d be able to catch them, even in wolf form the snowbank was too steep to take at top speed. “It’s too late for that, I think.” He clenched his free fist and tried to keep a lid on his frustration. “No, we’ll follow them. Trevor’s hold over Rylan needs to be broken.”

Beside him, Remy nodded his approval.

Micah kept the fact that he would have done that with or without Remy’s permission to himself. He was still on rocky ground after disobeying Remy earlier. From the way Hunter snorted, however, he didn’t hide his thoughts that well.

“Fuck. I was hoping you were further ahead on the road.” Micah heard a whooshing sound and assumed Ashlock was doing the weird super speed vampire thing. “Okay, I’m about a quarter mile behind them. Any closer and they’ll see me in the mirrors. What do you want to do?”

Remy took the phone from him and Micah’s body jerked when a red car sped passed them. Rylan was in there. He knew it, but the blur that followed behind the car a few seconds later confirmed it. Ashlock.

“Follow them. We’ll trace your scent and send for backup. Do. Not. Lose. Them.”

Remy leaped up and started stripping off his clothes. “Let’s move.”

“Thank fuck. It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here.” Hunter quickly stripped as well, shifting and shaking out his light grey fur.

Micah followed suit once Ryder had shifted and let his wolf form come forth.