The Boy and His Wolf (7 page)

“
Not yet but you’re gonna go for a walk all the same.”

Damn, that was smooth. Carson cracked his neck to either side, I was guessing in some attempt to show Dash that he didn’t scare him, and then eyed the room.

“
Pathetic,” he huffed and walked out, the scent of disgust trailing him.

Sylvia’s men still stood around her, daring the next person to threaten their Alpha.

“
Oh back up.” She waved them off and they followed her order.

The tension in the room was jello thick. Muscles bulged from necks and refused to relax. To distract myself from the awkwardness I decided to stare at Dash’s ass and feel sorry for myself. Apparently, this was a new skill I excelled in.

Night was falling and the warm Colorado sunset shone directly through the West facing kitchen walls. It was beautiful, but it created shadows on Sylvia’s face that made her even less friendly than she already was.

“
Well, boys and girls.” She broke the silence. “What do you say we go looking for these rogue wolves?”

“
I thought you said they could mask their scents. What good would it do?” Jacey asked.

Sylvia’s smile curved in a sinister twist and her eyes stared out like a dead person with something up their sleeve. “I have a feeling they’ll find us.”

“
Where are we heading?” Grady asked.

“
We’ll follow the river. Break into two teams and head north,” Dash spoke directly to Sylvia.

Dash was a natural born wolf and a natural born leader. He had the makings of an Alpha and assumed the role without any hesitation.

“
We’ll start at the reservoir and head North to Needle Rock. Sylvia, you take the East side of Gunnison and we’ll take the West.”

Sylvia cocked her head towards me. “I want the Hunter with me.”

“
He stays with us.” Dash’s words were out before she even finished her sentence.

That caught the attention of everybody in the room. Sylvia smiled like she just caught wind of a dirty secret. My loyalty was still on the line with her. Dash either trusted me or he didn’t, I couldn’t care less. The fact that he wavered confirmed that we hadn’t bonded the way I thought we did. Maybe all we had left was sexual tension? If Sylvia and Dash didn’t trust me then I would prove, just to spite them both, that I was trustworthy to the pack.

“
I’ll go.” I stood and directed my words straight to Sylvia, feeling a pang of pride when Dash’s head whipped towards me.

I grabbed a napkin from the table and handed it to the wolf who was doing a shit job of keeping the blood from dripping out of his nose.

“
Let’s quit wasting time.” I headed for the door, making sure not to look in Dash’s direction at all.

“
Didn’t think you would agree to come with me.” Sylvia eyed me across the backseat of her Hummer.

We were heading towards the site where we would start looking for the rogue pack. Two of her goons were in the front seat and the third was hanging off the back of the vehicle. Literally.

“
Well, you needed a Hunter.” I continued to stare out the window, doing my best to not think about stupid Dash and our stupid relationship.

“
Your wolf seemed pretty upset that you agreed to come with.”

“
He is not my wolf.” As in not anymore and not ever again.

I could feel Sylvia turn towards me. “The mark on your shoulder says otherwise.”

My head shot in her direction. “How do you know that?”

She gave a slight laugh. “Honey, I’m an Alpha. I could see that scar under anything.”

Hmm. This was news to me.

“
You’re still wrong,” I told her. “This scar means nothing now. Just a reminder to always read the fine print.”

Sylvia began stroking her hair. It was the first time since meeting her that she seemed relaxed and not pissed off in some way.

“
I have a mark too,” she said, casually pulling at a stray end.

“
You do?” She didn’t seem like the type to be in a relationship. A dominatrix, however, I could see.

Even in the darkness I saw the genuine curve of her smile, like she was thinking of happier times.

“
I had a mate once. He was a wolf too. I turned him actually, but that’s another story.” She held her lower right side. “Right here. Looks just like yours.”

“
You’re not with him anymore?” Maybe she knew of a way I could break this damn supernatural connection. This could be my chance to finally move on from Dash.

She was silent for a moment. “He died some years ago.”

Sylvia wasn’t one of my favorite people, but at that moment my heart went out to her. I couldn’t help but think of what life would have been like if Dash had died when we were dating. How did my dad move on with his life after my mother died? I’ve experienced loss in my life, but not the loss of a partner.

“
I’m sorry to hear that.” Was all I could say.

“
That was a long time ago. I have moved forward with my life.”

“
Is…that possible?” My stomach constricted in excitement. “Can the mark be reversed?”

Sylvia crossed her legs and adjusted her skirt. “It’s not easy. Usually one of the two marked has to die in order for the connection to be severed. Do either of you plan on dying anytime soon?”

So, I was screwed. Funny how he could jump into bed with whomever he wanted, but he would always be the one for me. He’s lucky I wasn’t in the same vehicle with him because I would have planted my fist into his face.

“
Oh, you two can make things work.” Sylvia had waited for me to answer her.

“
Um, no. Once this black wolf is taken care of, I’m heading back to Los Angeles.” And this time around that might not even be far enough. Maybe I needed Tokyo or Prague.

“
Wolf urges are difficult to control. The call to mate is primal. I wouldn’t hold it too high against him.”

Easy for her to say when she was able to still get it on with people. Did wolves seriously not understand the power of their mark? It was nearly impossible for me to feel anything for anyone, both sexually and emotionally. Every desire I had always wound back to Dash.

I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but the abrupt inward dent of my car door made me forget it. The entire Hummer shook as another blast erupted at my door. A deep scream of agony came from outside of the vehicle and I saw the goon hanging from the back of the Hummer disappear out of sight.

My hand instantly pulled the gun from my side and had it aimed at Sylvia. “What is this?”

The wide-eyed shock in her eyes convinced me this wasn’t on her.

“
Drive faster,” she screamed to the driver and the Hummer jerked forward as he floored it.

I aimed the gun at the door, waiting for the next hit, but then up wasn’t up and down wasn’t down. An explosion registered in my brain on some level, but I didn’t understand why I was on the roof of the Hummer. Were we just bombed? It didn’t matter because a church chorus sang in my ears and pain stabbed all over my body.

I took an inventory of my injuries.

Hands? I could move them.

Feet? They wiggled.

Shoulders? The blood in my veins skidded aside as pure torture tore threw me.

Oh yeah, my arm was dislocated. Was I paralyzed? No, if that was the case I wouldn’t be able to move my hands or feet. Thank God.

I managed to move my eyeballs enough to see Sylvia next to me, unconscious. There was movement on the other side of me and then I was being dragged, quite painfully I may add, out of the car. The goon with the broken nose stood over me.

“
You ok?” He looked my body over.

“
Arm’s dislocated.” Even speaking was excruciating.

“
That all?” he asked, glancing around with a twitch in his eye.

“
Yeah, I think,” I told him, trying to sit up. “Help Sylvia. I’ll manage.”

The goon was in front of me now and much too close. Why wasn’t he helping his Alpha?

“
That’s too bad.” His grip tightened on my arm, snarl widening on his face.

“
What are…” But then he knocked me into unconsciousness.

I awoke to burning in my jaw as my surroundings came into focus and my head spun. It took me a second, but then the image of the crash and the goon’s fist became all too clear. I was tied up and was that… yeah… I was sporting a ball gag.

“
About time.” Even though my ears were still ringing, I could tell that I had never heard that voice before.

The figure walked around to face me. He squatted to my level, because I was pretty sure I was tied to a tree. I frantically searched my brain as I took him in. Around my age, shaved head, full beard. Then there was his pink polo shirt and khakis. He was a frat boy?

“
Your jaw looks like it hurts.” His hand brushed my cheek and I recoiled as if his fingers were snakes. The sudden movement brought a whole new wave of blistering pain.

He turned around and I saw three figures standing in the moonlight. Sure enough, the goon with the fist was standing with a sick smile on his face. Well, he was first on my kill list. That was if Sylvia survived the crash and didn’t get to him first because I was pretty sure betraying your Alpha was a death sentence.

Frat boy faced me again. “I’m hoping you remember me from this morning.”

Yeah, I made the connection in my head. He was the black wolf. I wouldn’t have pegged him as a pretty boy, but I tried not to judge a book by its cover.

“
You do. Good.” He winked at me. “It’s nothing personal, I hope you know that. All of this is nothing against you, personally, but you are part of the problem. You see, change is here in Amber Pines and some of your pack just don’t fit in.”

He stood up and stepped back, again looking me up and down. “It’s a shame, too, because you’re definitely my type.”

Nausea swept through my entire body. The thought of him finding me attractive was sickening. He bit his lip for a moment and then ripped the duct tape from my face and pulled the ball gag from my mouth. My jaw cried in absolute joy and I stretched it out in relief.

“
Better?” he asked.

Considering I was still tied to a tree by a psychotic wolf in a pink shirt, no, not really. I continued to stare death rays into his skull.

“
Oh come on, I didn’t have to take the gag out.” He gave it a little squeeze.

This guy was a lunatic. “You really like the sound of your voice, don’t you?”

He laughed. “I’m confident with myself, you can say that.”

“
I bet you are.” I looked away, my shoulder now shouting instead of screaming. They must have popped it back in. How generous.

“
Aren’t you at least a bit curious as to why I’m doing all this?” he asked, throwing his hands up.

“
You’re about to tell me.” Commence the supervillain rant.

He dropped to his hands and knees and was within inches of my face. His scent was rainwater. Any other person and it would have been sweet to me, but on him, right now, it might as well have been gasoline. My stomach did another nauseated flip and I pulled as far away from him as my constraints allowed.