The Boy and His Wolf (2 page)

Noelle sat next to me, her hand on my shoulder calming the swirl of emotions that were beginning to pound through my skull. For the four years I’d been in California, Noelle was my closest friend and ally. As a fellow Hunter, someone tasked with protecting innocent people from supernatural creatures who would do them harm, I trusted her judgment. She knew about my past and the reasons behind why I left Amber Pines, my small mountain town in Colorado.

The scratch marks, four slashes across my right shoulder blade, heated up, slowly at first and then to a white hot sting. I grabbed at it and could feel the scar tissue under my shirt, jagged and tender.

“
Your mark burning?” Noelle asked, surprise dancing across her face.

I nodded and looked away, not wanting her to see my loss of control and vulnerability.

When my scar burned like the center of the sun it meant that Dash could feel my current emotions. Four years and two states between us had helped me to control the link we shared, but I hadn’t been prepared for the news I just learned.

“
Dammit.” I shoved the gym bag to the floor, stood and walked away, pulling at my hair.

I had sworn I was never stepping foot in Amber Pines again. When I left, I left for good. It was my choice and my sacrifice. But Richton was dead. He was a good man. Correction, he had been a good man. God, he was only ten or so years older than me. He couldn’t have been more than 33 or 34. And someone had murdered him. An attack like this on the Alpha left the rest of the pack vulnerable and an easy target. It meant that the shit was just beginning.

I stopped walking once I reached the window and looked out at the city street two floors below. This was my home now. Not Amber Pines. I gave up Colorado forests and wolf packs for smoggy air and overpriced coffee.

Noelle’s light steps approached me and I turned to face her, feeling the tightness of my frown and the clench of my jaw.

“
You don’t have to go.” Her tone indicated my loyalty was no longer to the pack.

“
Of course I have to go. My father’s still there. My old friends are in danger now.”

Dash could be in danger.

His face appeared in my mind and my body clenched, unprepared for the physical and emotional ambush that tagged along. Thanks to the supernatural scar he had given me, we were linked for life. It didn’t matter that we’d been broken up for four years. No, Dash would always be my mate. I had proof of that, too. Failed relationships and disastrous one-night stands reaffirmed to me that no other man would ever compare to the werewolf. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to like somebody or how attractive another man was, my response to them was just above zero. Sure, I could probably get it up long enough to bang out some sexual frustration, but I would never be able to emotionally feel anything.

“
I have to go…tonight,” I said, sighing at my realization.

“
Yeah, ok.” Her voice fell from a platform of support.

I raised my brows and flashed her a half smile, trying to reassure her I would be alright. Jack held out my gym bag and he shook my hand firmly. It was his way of wishing me well, I guessed. Then I was out of there, leaving my perfectly imperfect life behind.

Beef jerky wrappers and energy drinks littered my passenger seat and I was almost through the third full playlist of music on my phone. My legs twitched with restlessness and I was completely fed up with driving. Living in L.A. meant that I didn’t drive often and this long in the car made my skin crawl. I was used to short transit rides, not a trip across the country.

“
Home sweet home,” I muttered as the Amber Pines County Limits sign came into view. My left foot tapped out a warning in Morse code, but I reassured myself that in a couple of days, once I made sure my father and friends were alright, I would be out of here.

The sun was just rising and a good number of cars started to appear on the road. City life was so different from the hustle and bustle of small town living. In a place like Los Angeles most places stayed open for 24 hours, but here, in the mountains, people rose before the sun and went to bed just after it set.

I inhaled deeply and fought the urge to close my eyes and bask in the crisp, clean air. One thing I would never adjust to is the filthy smog that billowed through Los Angeles. There was something about this thin Colorado mountain air that filled my spirit.

Amber Pines was beautiful, I would give it that, but it was also just as deceiving as an adorable wolf pup. Enticing on the outside, but once you’re face first in soft fur, you’re already in the death trap.

I scratched at my perpetually itching scar for the hundredth time since I left. As my fingers traced the four claw marks Dash came to mind. Luckily, I was back in control of my emotions, well mostly, but I knew that Dash could feel me getting closer with each and every mile. A good portion of my trip was consumed with what it would be like when I saw him again. How different would he look? What would he think when he saw how much muscle I gained?

The thought of seeing Dash again eroded my stomach lining as much as it sent a good portion of my blood flow to my groin. Would he snub me or would he be happy to see me?

“
Hah.” I laughed out loud.

Dash was never happy, at least not like most people. Dashiell Howell was unlike any man I ever met. With a body built for sex, he was all lean muscle and pure stamina. An everlasting glare defaulted to his face while his lower half filled out too tight jeans. Mix in a natural scent of burning wood and I had a hard time staying off my hands and knees. Marco told me last year that Dash was a Park Ranger now and I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of him in that dorky uniform more than once or twenty times.

The scar began to burn just as my pants tightened. Shit, think of something else.

I picked up my cell phone, telling my guilty conscious that texting while driving this one time was alright, and sent Marco a quick message.

SHOULD BE THERE IN SIXTY.

Marco and I had agreed to meet for breakfast in town, but I wanted to drop my stuff off at my dad’s and grab a quick shower first. Out of everyone in the pack, Marco was the one person I stayed in contact with the most. He was like a brother to me and I wanted to meet with him first to make sure the pack was alright with me showing up.

While I agreed with Marco that everybody would be more than happy to see me, I technically was no longer in a relationship with Dash and therefore was no longer a part of the pack. Wolf laws were crazy and confusing and had always given me a headache.

I pulled up to the house where I had become a man in more ways than one. The same splintered yellow paneling sprouted from behind overgrown weeds. Each crack in the wood a lifeline. A memory. The broken shutter from when I almost hit a baseball through the window. The hole in the porch from a tiangou attack.

Standing outside the house, I took the spare key from the fake rock that lined the bushes. You would think my father, the Sheriff, would know better than to hide a house key in a faux rock, but he always said, “If somebody wants to come breaking into the Sheriff’s house, they better know I have the best guns in town.”

I slipped the key into the lock and a shiver immediately ran over my body.

Hunter rule number 2: always trust your gut.

I stood still for a moment and focused my hearing on the sounds around me. Leaves blowing slightly in the wind. Normal. No sounds of birds or squirrels. Not normal. I slipped my right hand into my bag, feeling the cold steel of my AR-24.

Wait for it. Wait for it.

Crunch.

My gun was facing the direction of the sound before my bag hit the porch, trigger finger itching to put a hole in whatever bastard of a creature thought it could sneak up on me. My eyes scanned the surrounding yard for anything that was out of place.

“
Give me one fucking reason,” I whispered as my adrenaline pumps activated.

Another crunch and then between two pines came a muzzle and fluorescent eyes so green they looked radioactive. It emerged from between the pine trees like oil spilling through grass. Large. Sleek. All of its senses focused on me and the gun. I didn’t recognize this wolf and that meant it was either a new pack mate or a rival. He had about five seconds to indicate which one he was before I put fifteen rounds into him. Contrary to popular belief silver doesn’t do a damn thing when it comes to shifters. An entire round of ammunition on the other hand does the trick pretty well.

“
Who are you?” I called out, stepping down the porch steps. No matter what direction the wolf went I would have a clear shot now.

He didn’t answer, obviously, but I waited for it to make a move. Shift back to human form or try to rush me. Those were the options.

That’s when I realized my dumbass didn’t pay attention to rule number 1 of the Hunter code. Always know your surroundings.

A flash of tan to my right. My body turned towards the movement, gun first, but I was too late. The force of the second wolf knocked me to the ground and the gun fell free from my hand. I instinctively rolled with it and was back on my feet as the fangs of the wolf snapped for my throat.

The force of my fist smashing into the wolf’s face was enough to turn his muzzle just out of my reach. Behind me. Padding hitting ground. My muscles were organic steel now. My four years of training lead me to this very moment.

I let the black wolf crash into me and as we fell backwards I kicked upwards with my right foot and flung the bastard into the side of the house. He easily weighed three hundred pounds. One heavy son of a bitch.

Gun, my brain screamed.

On my hands and knees I reached for my best friend as the tan wolf sank his teeth around the handle.

“
Scratch that and you die.” The words flew from my lips. A death curse. A promise.

The wolf, signing his own death certificate, whipped his head to the side and flung my gun some yards away. My fingers dug into the dry earth, holding me back from jumping at the wolf.

The wolves stood together now. Manifestations of night and day. Whoever they were, they had known I was coming back to Amber Pines. Why me though? Was I just that lucky to receive a welcome committee the moment I stepped foot in town or did someone have it out for me? Marco and my father were the only ones who knew I was coming back and I trusted both men with my life.

I pushed the thoughts aside because this was survival of the fittest. This was life or death. I didn’t have my gun and while my body was as deadly a weapon as any, I wasn’t sure how far it would go against two supernatural wolves.

Their snarls sank bone deep. Spit flew from their lips and the air was damp with the rank smell of murder.

“
Let’s do this, assholes,” I told them, tone even. They were on my property. At my home. They were dead already.

They roared in unison and sprang forward. My brain compartmentalized the scenario instantly. The tan wolf, leaning towards the right, would come at me from my left. I could see his trajectory. The black wolf was even footed and would hit me straight on. Classic tag-team move, similar to when the Maero twins tried to gut me two months ago at Santa Monica Pier. The difference, of course, was having my banshee sword with me. Now it was just me and my finely honed muscles.

The thumping of the wolves’ feet seemed to match the mach speed of my heart. The black wolf would reach me first and so I set my sights on him. Get to his left and he’ll be a barrier between the tan wolf and I.

What happened next was completely and utterly unexpected. From the corner of my eye another wolf leaped from the roof and came down like lightning sent from Zeus. The lone wolf smashed into the tan wolf with a repulsive crunch and with an effortless flick, snapped his neck. The black wolf, either unaware or uncaring, still leapt for me.

With its neck turned to the right, I could easily put my entire body weight under my left shoulder. The wolf still flew into me, but the upward force of my shoulder kept his jaw from tearing out my trachea. I was on my back, hands buried in the black hole of his fur, straining to keep the beast at a distance.