Wolf Creek Sheriff (Texas Pack 4) (Prequel) (Wolf Creek Shapeshifters) (8 page)

He stomped around the small cabin in anger, kicking her clothing across the room. He did not have the nose for tracking that wolves had, but he did have magic. He’d tracked her before with a small amount of blood from when he’d held his claw across her in the cavern.

Looking at his hand, he shifted his nails into long claws and saw there was a small amount of dried blood on the underside. Grinning, he spoke a few words of black magic and waited for the magic to work and take him to her location.

Nothing happened. Was the amount too small? Now it hit him. How did she escape? She should have been too weak to shift, let alone run anywhere. He growled before exiting the cabin to look around the area, assuming he would find her passed out or dead.

Checking the perimeter of the cabin, he stopped when he got back to the front door with no sign of her. Resting his hands on his hips, he looked out at the tall trees surrounding the cabin. She couldn’t have gotten far, not with those wounds.

He searched the tree line directly in front of the cabin and found the trail he was looking for. The moisture in the soil made finding a paw print in the dirt easy.

D
evlin checked
in with the deputies over the radio. No news. Shoving his chair back, he marched over to look out the window, which gave him a view Main Street. He saw pack members stationed strategically in the area, guarding people who had no idea they were being protected. He knew other pack members were stationed on rooftops, protecting their town.

He wanted to be out there with them, but his orders had been to stay at the sheriff’s office to handle calls and coordinate the search with the deputies.

Being the youngest brother sucked sometimes. Shoving a hand through his hair in frustration, he watched a black SUV with a Tyler news logo pull into a spot in front of the sheriff’s office.

“Shit, what the hell brings them here?” He moved away from the window and waited as two men climbed from their vehicle.

Evaluating them quickly, he knew he had to get them to leave. One guy held a camera perched on his shoulder, which meant the other one was the reporter. Gritting his teeth, he donned his ‘good old boy’ persona and smiled hugely when they came through the door.

“Hey, how can I help you folks?” Devlin grinned like an idiot and caught the look they gave one another. Yeah assholes. You’re dealing with a small town hick sheriff, you keep on believing that.

The reporter stepped forward while his cameraman simply looked bored. “Are you the sheriff?”

“Nope, he’s out somewhere. I’m one of his deputies.” Technically, he had been sworn in but it wasn’t his day job. Devlin stuck out his hand and squeezed just hard enough to make the man wince.

“Well, you’ll have to do.” The reporter’s condescension made Devlin’s intention to fuck with him an easy decision.

“How can I help y’all?” He saw the man wince at his thick southern accent and wished he had a hay stray to put between his teeth and complete the picture.

“I got a call saying something big was going down in Wolf Creek. You know anything about that deputy?”

Devlin took the time to slowly scratch his jaw before looking up at the ceiling as if wisdom would drop down from above. “I can’t think of nothin’. Who called you? Was it Patty Sue? She has a quilting quickly class coming up. Or maybe Miss Jenson? Miss Jenson teaches at the elementary school and has a spelling bee every year.” He snapped his fingers. “I bet that’s it cause she’s been goin’ around town telling everybody that her kids will win the state competition.”

You could practically hear the reporter’s teeth grind. “No, it wasn’t about quilts or spelling bees. When will the sheriff be back?”

“Oh, I reckon he won’t be here for another week or so. He’s off on his honeymoon.” Devlin’s brows went up and down as he added a smarmy leer to complete the picture.

The reporter’s growl of frustration deeply satisfied Devlin’s gremlin gene. He waited, hoping the reporter would give up and leave. Looking at the cameraman, he saw boredom and not much else on the man’s face.

“Let’s go CP.” The reporter turned for the door.

CP followed but turned back to ask, “Is there a good place to eat here?”

Devlin kept his goofy grin in place. “Sure, the café is down the walk a ways, on the left. If you have a hankerin’ for chicken fried steak, you won’t find any better, CP.”

CP held the door open. “My name is Sam. CP stands for camera person since he’s too lazy to remember names,” Sam muttered.

Devlin could see there was no working relationship going on there, but a lot of resentment.

He pulled out his cell phone and called the diner as he watched them walk down the sidewalk from his spot by the window. The owner, Miles and his mate were long-standing pack members.

“Hey, there’s a reporter sniffing around and he and his cameraman are about to be there for lunch. Someone tipped him off about something big happening here. Warn everyone to keep an eye on him and if anything does happen, don’t let anything get caught on camera. Feed them fast so they’ll be on their way.”

Through the phone he heard Miles shrill whistle getting everyone’s attention before hanging up. He knew Miles and his wife would handle things on their end while he got word out to the rest of the pack.

W
here the hell was she
? Stephanie slowed her run and looked around. Forestland stretched as far as she could see with no mountains in sight. She hoped to find one of the dragon provinces and beg for help but she had no idea if she was even close to their homeland.

She kept glancing over her shoulder expecting to see Amon coming after her. He was like the boogeyman, all scary and shit and she was didn’t know if he would pop out of nowhere and capture her again.

“Stephanie!”

She spun around on hearing her name but quickly realized it was in her head.

“Colin? Where are you? Oh, thank God you’ve found me.”

“Are you alright?”

How did she answer that? Scared shitless seemed the correct response but she reigned in her inner smart ass.
“Yes, I escaped and I’m in a forest. Are you close by?”

She waited for an answer, anticipation making her quiver. Colin was here, he’d keep her safe and get her home.

“Baby, you need to describe your location, with any landmarks you’ve seen.”

She snorted inelegantly.
“I see trees, that’s it. I ran as fast as I could and didn’t see anything that stood out.”

“Okay, I’ve got your scent. We’re coming for you. I need you to stay put now so we’re not endlessly chasing you.”

Moving off the path, she went far enough away from anyone or anything that might be on the trail and lay down behind a wide tree. Slowing her breath, she watched for any movement.

She couldn’t relax, her muscles ready in case she needed to run again. Knowing Amon would use her whether dead or alive scared the bejesus out of her.

“Colin? How did you know where I was? This forest is never ending.”

His voice in her head was calm, giving her comfort. “
Me, Rafe, and Ian contacted Robert and he took us to Quinn’s, but he was out searching for Amon and we just hooked up with him. Quinn thinks Amon may be at a remote cabin he owns that’s deep in the woods.”

Stephanie’s heart jumped on hearing this.
“Yes, yes! That’s where he took me. I managed to escape but I don’t know how far I am from the cabin. And I don’t know where he went either.”
She paused.
“Colin, I’m scared. He wants to use me to start a war between humans and shifters. He wanted to get shifters and dragons to chase him to our realm. I’m the bait.” She sniffed.

She swore she heard his growl in her head and smiled inside. Just knowing he was on his way lifted her spirits.

Hearing a noise on the trail, she stepped out from behind her tree and ran to meet her mate.

Stephanie yelped as she was grabbed by the scruff of her neck and held in the air. Wiggling fiercely, she tried to see who held her but her assailant had her turned away so that she couldn’t bite him. She stopped struggling, hoping her weight would cause him to drop her.

“Hi honey, miss me?” Amon spoke to the back of her head.

Fear paralyzed her. No, not again. God she was stupid, leaving her hiding place and assuming it would be Colin waiting for her.

“Shift,” Amon demanded.

She whined, not wanting to be naked and vulnerable around him. The fact that her wolf was a predator and a much better fighter than her human self, made her stubbornly hold on to her wolf.

“Shift!”

She yelped again when he shook her back and forth, making her dizzy. The claw he held across her midriff convinced her to change.

He released his hold once she shifted, moving back a step to look her over.

“You’ll have to tell me the secret on how you healed so fast.” Amon smiled grimly. “That’s if you live through the next hour. I have my doubts,” he said in mock sympathy.

“Colin! Amon found me. Where are you?”
She was pleading in her head.

“We’re close baby. We found the cabin and your scent is getting stronger now. Fight, baby. You do whatever you have to to survive till we get there.”

Stephanie nodded slightly as if Colin was there to see it. She could take another beating, knowing how to pull the magic to her gave her confidence. Taking a couple of steps back to give her room to fight, she planted her feet and reached down to pick up a branch. She held it like a baseball bat and taunted him, motioning him forward.

Amon laughed at her and pointed to himself. “Me? You want to fight me with a wooden stick?

Oh shit, wood burns. Hell, human flesh burns much easier. She’d forgotten that part about dragons. Change of plans. She threw her branch at his head, turned and started running. Five feet away she bounced off a hard object and landed on her ass at Amon’s feet. She fucking hated how dragon’s could appear and disappear at will. They got all the super powers. Strength, magic and fire.

He was smiling as he held his hand down to help her up. “Give up? I hope not, you’re so much fun to play with.”

She slapped his hand away to stand on her own and wished she could make clothes appear like the dragons could.

“Times up darling. Companies coming.” He yanked her to him and held her by her hair, pulling her neck back, with his other arm wrapped around her body. “Show time,” he murmured next to her ear.

Tears swarmed in her eyes, making the blue sky waver as she tried to blink them away. Her tears were from relief, not pain or fear. Colin was here, everything would be all right now. His deep voice sent a shiver throughout her body.

“Let her go.” The menace in Colin’s voice was a warning that every creature in the forest feared.

Amon loosened his hold on her hair and she managed to finally get a look at Colin.

He stood in the middle of the others glaring at Amon with a hatred so strong she was thankful it wasn’t aimed at her. Rafe looked to be barely holding himself in check as she could feel the strength of his alpha humming under her skin. Ian was just downright scary. He was calm. His face still and set as if he was imagining all the ways he could kill you. She found herself wondering where the youngest brother was. Maybe he was in hiding, waiting to pounce, but she thought Ian would be better at that job. Quinn stood with hands clenched into fist, biceps bulging and ready to rip Amon apart. Robert had a sword in his grip, calmly waiting for his chance to annihilate the enemy. She had an army of five men willing to give their life to protect her. But she wouldn’t allow that to happen. This was an army of six, counting her. When the moment came, she would fight to protect her family and friends too.

“Sure buddy, I’ll let her go. Just as soon as we get to Wolf Creek.”

S
tephanie was getting
sick and tired of being whizzed off whenever a Fae creature decided to be her tour driver. Shaking off the slight dizziness, she looked around to see where Amon had taken her.

She had another oh shit moment when she saw the sheriff emblem on the building in front of her. She was standing, butt naked, on Main Street.

“Listen up humans, monsters are real.” Amon’s voice boomed through the streets at a volume that no one could miss. “The person standing next to you, your teachers, any one of them could be a demon.”

Stephanie saw people coming out of shops, bystanders on the street stopping to gawk at the impromptu show happening before their eyes. She closed her eyes in embarrassment, before gritting her teeth and straightening her spine. Most of the people standing around were shifters, with only a few tourists passing through. She stood tall and waited. Her army would have followed and should show up instantly.

Her pack had already anticipated this confrontation and was in wait at locations around town. Seeing the men on buildings with their rifles aimed at Amon made her smile. He had no idea how small towns and packs worked together. She got more comfortable the more she looked around. There were no humans on the street, only shifters. Her pack had planned for this, she saw in relief. Doorways were blocked by men standing with arms crossed over their wide chests keeping those inside safe.

The café grabbed her attention when she saw the guard turn to face the patrons inside and push someone back. The irate yelling confirmed her suspicions that a human was trying to get out. She had no idea how this little show could be glossed over or hidden from him.

Her attention was brought back to Amon when he grabbed her by her hair and exposed her neck. One sharpened claw held to her jugular froze her in place.

Gasping in one deep breath, she did her utmost to stay still and depended on her mate and pack to save her. There was no way she could shift without that claw cutting into her.

“Glad to see you managed to follow me gentlemen.” Amon smirked.

Stephanie was so happy to see her mate and what she now thought of as her own little army of protectors. But she had no clue as to how they would save her without getting her throat cut. Best not to think about that and be ready to move.

She watched Colin step forward with the others backing him up, except for Ian who had slid away quietly from their group.

“Baby, don’t move. Ian’s taking point to snipe this asshole since he doesn’t miss. He’s the best sharp shooter I’ve ever seen and I trust his skills more than the men stationed on the roofs.”
Colin’s voice spoke softly in her head.

“Umm baby, his claw is really sharp so my making any movement is not in question. This is going to be really messy, isn’t it
?” She heard his slight chuckle in her head, but knew it was forced. Colin was wound tight and ready to blow.

“Shift bitch, or I’ll slit your throat,” Amon ordered.

Everything seemed to happen at once. Colin leapt towards her as a small whistling noise went over her head.

She fell back with Amon as his body toppled, dragging her down with him. As he fell, the weight of his arm pulled his claw across her throat, ripping her skin open in a jagged tear.

Rolling off him, she grabbed her throat and felt her blood gush through her fingers before falling to her side.

“No!” Colin roared as he reached her motionless body. Rolling her over, he pressed his hand to try and stop the bleeding and heard the death gurgle when she couldn’t take in air.

C
olin heard
his alpha in the background giving orders but it barely registered. All his concentration was on his mate.

He couldn’t stop the bleeding, her life’s blood was pouring through his fingers making it too slippery to get enough pressure on the wound. Refusing to give up, he hunched over her pressing, holding, harder and harder to try and stop the flow. Cursing and screaming at her to hold on, he was oblivious to anything else.

Quinn dropped to his knees next to him and scooped her up, disappearing instantly.

Colin looked at the empty space in confusion, the blood pool slowly spreading to fill the small nicks in the asphalt. Where did she go?

He felt someone pulling him to his feet and looked up to see Ian walking towards him with his rifle held like a baby in his arms.

“Colin!” Robert was the one holding on to his arm, yelling his name.

He turned to Robert, grabbing his arms in a vice like grip. “Where did he take her?”

“Faery. Let’s go.” Robert whisked them to Faery.

“
G
et him out of here
,” Rafe commanded.

Rafe stood in the middle of his town, scowling down at the dead body in the middle of his road. He looked up at Ian and nodded. “Excellent shot.”

Ian was staring at Amon also, the round sat squarely in the middle of his forehead. He looked back to his brother. “I miscalculated. I thought the front was the best shot, but I was wrong. I got her throat slit. I should have taken the back of his head, but I was afraid he would fall forward and push the claw into her neck.”

“Don’t you fucking take this on, Ian. You did not have any good fucking options. Your shot prevented that fucker from slicing her ear to ear.” Rafe stood with hands on his hips, glaring at his brother.

Ian sighed, “I hope to hell the dragons can save her.”

Devlin strode up to join his brothers. “We have a small problem.”

Rafe raked a hand through his hair. “Of course we do, this clusterfuck just gets better and better.”

“Bro, you need to change up your cursing. You’ve become one dimensional,” Devlin said.

Rafe turned to Devlin, smoke practically coming out of his ears. “What the fuck, is the fucking problem now?”

Devlin held his palms up, stepping back. “Well, we have a reporter and his cameraman being held inside the diner. I’m not sure what they saw, if anything.”

Rafe growled and marched to the diner. His man at the door hurriedly stepped aside, allowing him to enter with Devlin following.

Rafe stopped and looked at the people inside, calming himself for the speech he was about to give. “Folks, everything is fine. Enjoy your lunch. We had a drunk spouting off in the street and we kept you inside for your own safety.”

A man pushed forward with a microphone in his hand and a cameraman recording behind him.

“I’m Lane Carson with Tyler News. Why was that man yelling about demons and such? I heard a shot, did you kill him?”

Rafe looked at Miles and gave a slight nod towards the cameraman. Miles immediately went over and blocked his view.

“No filming in my business,” Miles growled.

The cameraman looked at the huge man ordering him not to film and quickly turned off his camera.

“Hey, you can’t do that!” Lane yelled.

“Yes, he can. His business, his rules, and that man out there was drunk and sees demons. There was no shot, you heard a car back firing,” Rafe told him, staring straight into his eyes.

Lane stepped back, intimidated by the huge man but refused to give up. “I know my guns, and that was not a car backfiring.”

Rafe smirked. “Oh, so you think there are demons running around and we shot them?”

The patrons sniggered, which caused Lane to turn beet red.

“Come on CP, let’s get out of this Podunk town.” Lane stepped around Rafe and out the door that Devlin was holding open.

“Y’all be sure to come back in the fall for the Brussels Sprout Festival,” Devlin shouted, waving and smiling from the doorway.

R
obert transported
them directly to the large chamber where the dragons held their meetings. Sure enough, Quinn had gone to the most populace place to get help.

Colin shook off his discomfort and instantly looked for Stephanie. Seeing a large group standing around a platform, he rushed over but didn’t push his way through. He understood what they were doing and did not want to impede them in any way. He stood behind them, trying to see between their shoulders. Seeing Quinn at the head of the platform, he moved to stand beside him and Quinn made room for him to get closer.

She was so pale he could see tiny blue veins spiraling out in many directions. Reaching out, he ran his hand over her hair, the only part he could touch and not block the hands healing her.

There were eight men standing over her sending healing energy through her body. Each man had their own color of soft light glowing in their palms. From a soft green to a brilliant purple, the colors blended over her body in a symphony of color.

Colin looked back to her face, sliding down to see the wound at her neck closed and pinking with health. Watching the blanket placed over her, he could see the rise and fall of each breath she took.

His relief almost brought him to his knees. A film covered his eyes, tears of joy wanting to leak out but he blinked them quickly away.

They were done, each drawing their magic to a close. “Thank you, words cannot convey my deep respect and thankfulness I feel for each of you,” Colin said.

The men stepped back, nodding respectfully before leaving the chamber.

“She’s going to be fine now, Colin.” Quinn slapped him on his back. “I’m sorry I had to take her away from you so fast, but I had to get her here before she completely bled out.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Quinn. You saved her life, nothing else matters.”

Colin gently stroked her cheek, staring at her face for a reaction of any kind. “Can you take us home? I need to tuck her away in our den where I know my pack is close by.” It was a wolf thing, wanting his mate to be protected and secure.

Colin picked her up, squeezing her tight in his arms as Quinn touched his shoulder and whisked them home in the blink of an eye.

“Thanks man,” Colin said simply.

Quinn nodded. “Colin, she helped. She pulled in the magic from us like a vacuum cleaner. I’ve never seen anyone do that before. I think Faery agrees with her.” Saluting, he grinned and disappeared.

Colin tucked her into bed and sat down by her, brushing the hair back from her face. He understood her body was in a deep sleep and healing, but couldn’t wait to see her smile again.

Undressing, he slid in with his body next to hers, his hand resting on her stomach. He doubted he would sleep as the events played out over and over in his head.

H
er body felt
heavy and listless. Frowning, she tried to remember if she’d been sick and everything came crashing in all at once. Gasping she jerked as if trying to get away.

“It’s okay baby, you’re safe,” Colin murmured, leaning over her.

Oh, thank God. She was in her own bed and not being held by a crazy ass dragon.

“What...” She cleared her throat and started again. “What happened?”

Colin rested his head on his hand, laying out beside her and using his other hand to dance his fingers along her belly.

She giggled, pushing his hand away from the ticklish spot.

“Short version? Ian sniped Amon and when he fell, he sliced your jugular.”

Oh, now she remembered. That whistling noise, yeah, she’d have to thank Ian later. There’d been a lot of blood, her blood, not his. It had been messy, but not in the way she’d thought it’d be. Or maybe Amon had been messy but she hadn’t had to see that. Thank goodness.

“How did I survive? Did Rafe force me to shift?”

“No, baby. You didn’t have enough energy to shift. Quinn took you took Faery and the dragons healed you. Dragons are healers, you know.”

She harrumphed. “No, I didn’t know that. One of these days you’re going to start telling me things and not assume I already know things you’ve known for a hundred years!”

“Okay baby, I’ll work on that.” He was grinning.

She switched gears, which would always keep him on his toes. “I need to thank the dragons, maybe throw a big party for my army.”

“Army?” Colin asked.

“Yup, you, Rafe, Ian, Quinn, Robert. I guess I’ll throw Devlin in as one of my soldiers, he must have been in the fight somewhere. Guess I need to add my dragon friends too. My army is growing.”

“I’m sure Devlin will be thrilled to know he wasn’t left out. He was manning the station and trying to keep a nosy reporter out of our business.”

She rolled over to face him, and reached up to trace those beautiful dimples. “I love you baby. Thanks for going to Dallas to attend boring meetings and hanging around the dispatchers office.”

He reached up and traced the slight scar on her neck. “Thank you for living, sweetheart. I never want to see you hurt again, threatened in any way. I don’t think I could survive it.”

She snuggled up next to him, counting their blessings.