Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) (11 page)

“Are you hungry?” Nova asked, stepping up to
his side, but not close enough to touch. She’d been staying a few
feet away from him since the day at the alpha’s house when he
almost kissed her.

“Yes,” he replied. Winter couldn’t help it.
His eyes roamed her body, taking in every inch of her petite frame.
She was so little compared to him.

“What can I get you?” she asked, her eyes
fluttering as a heavy sigh left her lips.

“Whatever is fine,” he replied, tracing her
lips with his eyes. Damn, they were full and inviting. The dark
color was natural and he didn’t think he’d ever seen her with
lipstick or much makeup on the entire time they’d known each
other.

“I’ll have Moe whip something up for you,”
she said, turning on her heel so she could march off to the
kitchen.

Winter wouldn’t call himself much of a
gentleman by the way he watched Nova’s hips swing from side to side
in those tight denim jeans she wore. Her tank top sported the bar’s
name across the front and damn if her large breasts weren’t
enhanced by the material. She’d braided her hair today and Winter
had the urge to wrap it tightly around his fist as he mounted her
from behind.

“Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath.

As the evening progressed, Winter ended up
helping the bartender, Cole, stock the cooler. There’d been no sign
of any wolves and he was starting to wonder if the Guardians Talon
had sent out had found anything. They were going to be searching
Nova’s property while she was at work. Booth, Savage, and Ranger
were supposed to be combing every inch of the woods for scents or
any identifying marks of the wolves. It seemed that they had just
disappeared into thin air.

“Are you old enough to be in here, boy?”
Della, the waitress, drawled, gaining Winter’s attention.

“I need to see a Guardian,” the boy
announced. Winter’s neck prickled when the scent of the foreign
shifter crossed his senses. His panther pushed forward as he lunged
from his seat. The scent of this panther was the same one that
they’d found on Nova and Liberty’s land the night of the equinox
two months prior.

“Who are you?” Winter demanded, grabbing the
young panther by his collar. The patrons in the bar gasped but his
mind was on the young man and what he was doing in the bar.

“M…my name is Malaki,” the boy stuttered.
The poor boy looked like he’d been starved. His dirty blonde hair
was in need of a good wash, his clothes were also covered in dirt
and grime.

“Malaki?” Winter paused. “Are you the boy
they’ve been looking for in Tennessee?”

“Yes,” he swallowed. “The wolves…”

“Let’s go somewhere where we can talk in
private,” Winter whispered, casting a look at the humans over his
shoulder. He released the boy’s collar, but grasped his elbow,
steering him toward the back of the bar.

“Winter?” Nova inquired, turning from the
kitchen, a tray in her hand.

“I need your office,” he growled, knowing
his eyes were glowing.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Go out to the front of the bar, Nova,”
Winter ordered, flashing his fangs.

“Not until you tell me what the hell is
going on,” she said, sliding the tray back into the kitchen
window.

Winter’s panther was on edge. He had the
rogue cat by the elbow and his female was within distance for this
guy to hurt her…and she wasn’t
listening
to him. He felt his
mouth changing, his panther pushing forward along with his anger.
When he looked over his shoulder, Nova gasped, covering her mouth
with her hand.

“I. Said. To. Go!” he snarled, the words
garbled by his partially shifted mouth.

Nova scurried away, the tray forgotten.
Winter tugged on Malaki’s arm, pulling him down the hallway. As
soon as they entered the office, he kicked the door closed and
released the boy.

“Talk,” he ordered, taking a stance in front
of the door, knowing the kid couldn’t get through him.

“I can’t stay here long,” the kid began,
looking around the room nervously. “The wolves killed our family
and took me and my sister. I didn’t know where we were when we
finally woke up. They had these collars around our throats.” The
boy paused and pulled down his shirt, exposing his neck. There were
dried specs of blood around his throat. Those were the same marks
Evie had had from the collar she was wearing the night they’d
rescued her and Liberty from the cabin in the woods.

“Your sister has been reported dead, along
with your parents,” Winter told him. He inhaled deep, tracing the
scents in the room. A shifter could smell a lie, but this kid was
telling the truth.

“No,” Malaki said, gritting his teeth. “They
are keeping her caged in a house and I have to do their
snooping.”

“Why were you on the female’s land?” Winter
pressed.

“They are looking for your alpha and his
mate. They want the alpha for outing the shifters. His mate is just
for them to play with to anger him.” Malaki sagged, taking a seat
on the couch. “The wolves have been masking their scents with some
type of oil. I don’t know what it is or how it works, but it
does.”

“Fuck,” Winter cursed. Then why did he smell
the wolves the other night when they were on Nova’s land?

“I need your help,” Malaki begged. “My
sister is dying. We need an alpha.”

“Where is she?” Winter asked.

“I don’t know,” the boy replied, defeat
written all over his filthy face. “They drive me here and dump me
up the road. I have three hours to look for the alpha and his mate
before they take me back. I keep sending them off their trail,
saying I can’t find any information, but they are getting
aggravated with me.”

“How much longer do you have before they
come back?” Winter asked.

“An hour and fifteen minutes,” the boy
replied after looking at the clock on the wall. “Please help me. My
sister will be hurt if they know that I’ve talked to you. They said
they’d make me watch.”

“Son of a bitch!” Winter roared. Malaki
stiffened but didn’t cower down. Winter had to feel sorry for the
boy. He’d recently lost his family and was the only thing keeping
his sister alive. “Be calm, son. I’m calling my alpha.”

Chapter Eight

Talon sat in the chair, watching his mate
sleep. Liberty had been restless the past few days and she’d not
been eating well. The stress over her sister being hurt, plus the
pregnancy, was taking a toll on her. The healer had been by an hour
ago to check on his mate and he said she was doing fine but needed
to consume more protein. She’d finally eaten a hearty meal prepared
for her by his mother and had fallen fast asleep. He couldn’t bring
himself to leave her side for any length of time, but he knew he
needed to get out to help the others find those damn wolves.

He jumped when his phone vibrated in his
pocket. It took a moment for him to retrieve it from his pocket as
he quietly left the room. As soon as he was down the hallway, he
answered it before it went to voicemail.

“Winter?” he answered, seeing his second in
command’s name on the screen.

“I found your rogue,” he answered as a way
of greeting.

Talon’s panther lunged forward, his canines
growing thick in his mouth. He took a deep breath, promising his
cat that he’d get his time with the panther who’d been on Liberty’s
land.

“Where?” Talon snarled.

“We are at the bar,” Winter replied. “It’s
not quite what you think, boss.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Talon
barked, rushing down the stairs so he could head out to get his own
questions answered.

“It seems the kid that went missing in
Tennessee is also one of us.” Winter sighed. “Talon, they are
holding his sister hostage, threatening this kid to do their dirty
work.”

“Shit,” Talon said, rounding the corner to
the kitchen. He rambled off instructions to his mother to keep an
eye on his mate and then ran out the door. “I’m on my way.”

“Boss?” Winter paused.

“Yeah?” Talon replied, starting up his
truck.

“The kid is weak,” Winter whispered. Talon
heard a door close before Winter continued. “His sister is dying
and she needs an alpha. Malaki says he will be picked up by the
wolves in just over an hour to be taken back to where they’re
keeping them locked up and collared. If he doesn’t show, they will
kill her.”

“Fuck,” Talon spat, pressing the accelerator
as he turned onto the highway leading up to the bar.

“Talon…she’s only sixteen,” Winter
announced. Talon’s heart thundered in his chest. He couldn’t let
the young girl die. He had the sudden urge to bring her and this
boy, the one he’d never met and had been on his mate’s land, into
his pride and make them his.

“I’m almost there,” Talon replied. “Call
Booth and have him bring a tracking device from the security
office. We will get them out tonight.”

“Okay,” Winter answered, sounding
relieved.

Talon parked his truck and made his way
inside. Nova was standing by the bar, her arms were crossed and she
looked like she was ready to take someone’s head.

“He’s in the office,” she snapped, hooking a
thumb over her shoulder. “Not that anyone around here will tell me
what the hell is going on!”

“Come here,” Talon ordered, gaining a raised
eyebrow from his mate’s sister. Damn, those two were hellcats, but
she was family, and Liberty would have his ass if he didn’t explain
things to Nova.

“Tell me why Winter has that boy in my
office,” she pleaded, stopping in the hallway next to the
bathrooms.

“That boy is the rogue that was on your
land,” Talon informed her. “He has been held by the wolves, along
with his sister, for months. They need an alpha or they will die.
If the wolves find out that he’s talked to us, they are going to
kill her and make the boy watch.”

“Oh, God,” Nova gasped, covering her mouth.
A tear welled up in the corner of her eye, but it didn’t fall.

“The girl is only sixteen, Nova,” Talon
continued. “I need you to give me some time to connect with this
boy. I need to save them.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “What can I do?”

“Food,” he replied, looking over his
shoulder. “He’s going to need a lot of meat…proteins.”

“Got it,” she stated, turning for the
kitchen.

Talon walked down to the office, knocking
twice on the door. Winter opened it a crack before pulling the door
wide to allow Talon to enter. As soon as he did, the young boy fell
to his knees and dropped his head with nothing more than a
whispered, “Alpha.”

“Malaki,” Talon said, pushing his alpha
powers out to calm the boy and to see how much of a push he
received in return. There was no strength for this one to challenge
him, so Talon knew the boy wasn’t an alpha in his own right. “My
name is Talon Shaw and I am the alpha of the Shaw Pride. Do you
come willingly to me for help and aid in rescuing your sister?”

“Please,” Malaki choked out. “She’s dying. I
can’t let her die. She…she needs an alpha, and I don’t know how
much longer she can survive. Calla has already given up.”

“Jesus,” Winter cursed, running his hand
through his dark blond hair.

Talon cast his eyes over at his Guardian,
who nodded in agreement. This boy and his sister would be brought
into the pride and protected. As his canines thickened in his
mouth, Talon made a vow to the boy. “Take the blood of my pride and
you will be one of us. Refuse and you will die. I will honor your
place in my pride and protect you as you will be one of my blood.”
Talon bit into his vein and held his wrist in front of the boy.

Malaki reached for Talon’s wrist and lapped
at the blood that had welled up, watching as the child made his
decision. It was done…Talon had just accepted a rogue into his
pride and it was time to go find his new pride member’s family.

“Now…we hunt,” he growled, placing a hand on
top of the boy’s head as a father would his own child.

“What about Nova?” Winter asked.

“I’ll send someone over to keep an eye on
the bar while we are gone,” Talon replied, removing his phone from
his pocket. Winter nodded when he realized who Talon was calling.
At least having a different shifter watching over Nova would keep
Winter from losing focus.

As the call connected, Talon prayed he’d be
able to get rid of the threat that had been plaguing his pride for
months. His future and the future of his pride depended on it.