Wolf's Return (Black Hills Wolves Book 1) (8 page)

After a while, when there was no more movement from the kill, he shifted back, stretching his arms over his head.

He turned back to see Ryker, who stood next to B, and smiled. When had the other man returned? It didn’t surprise him one bit to see him there. That was the thing about pack, they always had your back whether you knew they did or not. He nodded at his Enforcer. Had that been pride in Ryker’s eyes before the other man had masked it?

“Can you or someone else, maybe Gee, send his body to the others? I want them to see what’s going to happen to them if they try to come back here.”

“I’ll do it.” Gee’s voice filled the area as he approached. The Bear had shown up, too. Also not surprising but it made Drew grin just the same. “I know exactly where to send it. And you know, he might have wanted to challenge you. He started to say something. Technically, you should have let him.”

“If his intent had been pure, he wouldn’t have brought a gun. He was dead wolf walking the second he threatened B. Wolves don’t challenge that way. Thanks for your help with the body.” He walked forward. Business with B needed to be attended to. The rest of this would have to wait. “I assume, Gee, you know where to ship a body the same way you knew how to get or make poison that weakened my father.”

Silence met his statement. Silence, but not denial.

Gee would never tell him yes or no. But he wanted the Bear to know he knew what he’d done. “I’m grateful.”

“I didn’t say I’d done it.” Gee raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not. You wouldn’t want to admit to it. Not in front of me. Not in front of Ryker who doesn’t know who went after the last Alpha because he’d be honor bound to consider that person a threat to me.” He picked up the hammer off the ground. “Do me a favor, Bear. If I ever get to the point where I need to be poisoned, make it fast. I’d rather get torn to shreds.”

“We need to call back the other dominant wolves,” Gee proclaimed, ignoring Drew’s previous statement, just as he should. “There will be more attacks. Your father had friends even beyond the goons who hung out with him here.”

“Yes, I know.” Drew nodded. “Can you make it happen, too?”

“I think I can begin the process.” Gee pursed his lips. “But this is your pack. I can get them here. You have to keep them.”

“Count on it.”

Drew grabbed B’s arm. “Come with me. Please.” He added the last bit as an afterthought. They weren’t in the bedroom. She’d likely not want to be ordered around as if she were. What worked in private for them didn’t fall under anyone else’s business.

“Where are we going?” She didn’t sound annoyed, and he didn’t scent any hostility off of her. She smelled…happy. What was that about?

“Some place private.”

She yanked her arm back and raised an eyebrow. “You wanted to talk in front of Ryker before, talk in front of him now.”

“That was different.” He shook his head. “There are things I have to explain to you. It can’t wait. I can’t let another day pass with this between us.”

“So talk, Alpha. I’m listening.”

“And I’m leaving,” Ryker called from behind him. “Gee is going to need help with the body.”

“Right.” Gee wouldn’t need any help with the body. The Bear could lift twice the amount with one arm. But if Ryker wanted an out of having to listen to this conversation, that was perfectly fine.

“Talk, Drew.” Her voice caressed over him like a breath of fresh air. He shuddered. This was going to be harder than he thought, even with the adrenaline of a fresh kill surging through him.

“Hit me, B.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Excuse me? One does not simply strike one’s Alpha.”

“Hit me as hard as you can for as long as you can. Hit me every day. Pound on me. Kick me. Rail at me. Say terrible things to me as much as you want.” He swallowed. “Because I’m never going to go. Not ever. I’m always going to be here, and if it takes days, weeks, months, years, I will be here when you decide to forgive me. And I’ll live, waiting for that moment, Betty. I’ll wake up every morning hoping the current day is the time.”

“Drew.” Her voice had lowered a degree. “Two things.”

He crossed his arms. He’d take a beating over this any day of the week. “Yes?”

“I know you won’t leave. I saw it. Just then when you were fighting. You took him down, and then you got up and looked for your hammer so you could get back to work. You really mean to do this, to make us your pack, to save us.”

“I do. And it should be
our
pack. Mine and yours. You’re my mate. They’ll need you as much as they need me.”

She nodded, but didn’t respond. He needed to keep her talking, to continue to hear her voice—he needed it like he needed oxygen. She had to say she’d try. But even if she didn’t, he’d hold fast. He had returned, and he’d prove to her he was worth it.

“What was the second thing you wanted to say?” he prompted her, reaching out to touch her arm. When she didn’t pull away, he took that as a good sign.

“Don’t call me Betty, Drew. It’s always been B.”

She launched herself forward into his arms, pressing her mouth to his. He gasped before he tugged her closer. She fit like she’d always been there.

Yes. He tasted her forgiveness in the tears flowing down her cheeks. B had begun to forgive him, and he finally felt at home.

He would fix his pack, he’d find a way. Now that he’d returned, they would do it together.

Always.

As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework. I hope, these days, that my parents think it was worth it.

I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. We’ve just moved from New Jersey to Texas where I am learning to love Barbecue!

I am in love with science fiction, fantasy and the paranormal and try to use all these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action-packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books. In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.

You can visit Rebecca at:

www.rebeccaroyce.com

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What a Wolf Wants by Heather Long

Chapter One

The bite of snow curled through the winter wind. Any other time, Ryker would be in Wolf form, racing through the hills. Unlike so many in the broken pack, the moon had never bound him. Though her sway didn’t call to him as it did to the others, the lack had never prevented him from joining the hunt each month, when the moon-called shifted, and shadowing their progress.

Few were those who ventured out unless they had to, and less was their joy—until Drew finally came home. The boy had—did—provide a fresh resource for the pack. Though desperately frayed and facing challenges on all sides, the pack bonds had begun to heal. But it would take time.

Of course, anything worth having should take time. Magnum hadn’t decimated them overnight. Just the thought of the previous Alpha was enough to have Ryker’s upper lip curling. His death should have been celebrated for months, but they’d only been able to sigh in deep relief.

A relief he, the deadly, highly-feared enforcer, shared. He had given thanks for every bloodless evening since. Even chastising three over-exuberant youths, who’d been caught on camera, hadn’t diminished his contentment.

The death of Magnum had freed Ryker from a blood oath that bound him in a chokehold, preventing him from killing the demented beast himself. He could walk amongst the pack, see them in the light of day, without worry Magnum would forget himself, giving an order so specific Ryker couldn’t find a work-around.

Killing had never troubled the enforcer. Death was a natural product of life—to protect the Black Hills, the wolves in the pack, their mates, and their children? Ryker would hunt, maim, and even kill as needed.

Magnum had only known how to butcher. More than once, he’d thought Ryker’s place was to be the vicious attack dog. Isolating himself had been the only option—distancing himself from the pack until all he could do was protect from afar, averting threats before Magnum knew about them…and wait.

Fortunately, the madness in the old Alpha had prevented him from realizing that, without utter specificity, Ryker could turn most kill orders into something else. He’d gotten really fucking good at it.

He smiled briefly at the scent of cinnamon touching the air. Tasha had been in the area recently. Most likely on another stealthy visit to his cabin. The little Beta appeared at random times. After her visits, he would find a torn shirt had been mended, his dry goods had been restocked, and a plate of cookies awaited him.

Always cookies. Depending on her mood, the type of cookie varied. Though not a fan of those types of sweets, Ryker always ate them. She was the only Beta to give a damn about him since he’d sent his sister and her family—along with so many others—away to safety. If Tasha wanted to make them for him so he wasn’t so alone, then he would eat them.

Sometimes, she came just to get away from the sadness of the town. His cabin was miles from Los Lobos, deeper into the woods—as far from Magnum as he could get yet still be close enough to help the pack if they needed him. In a way, allowing Tasha to care for him was her way of allowing him to care for her. Damaged and scarred after a vicious attack, her soul needed more than he to heal.

Movement in the chill night reached his ears. In the hush of the oncoming storm, it was a faint sound. A claw on stone, the barest crackle of dead leaves combined with the rustle of the breeze along fur—all of these things scraped his senses. The stealth held the promise the danger. Something hunted and had tried to stay downwind to avoid his detection, but the incoming storm shifted the wind, swirling through the trees.

Fools
. Lifting his chin, he waited. The hunter would know he had lost the element of surprise, so Ryker allowed him a choice. If he retreated, the other wolf might live to see the beauty of the snow-kissed land.

A huff of breath followed by the explosion of sound as a deep gray-colored wolf rushed him from the west was the wrong answer. It took only a moment for Ryker to recognize the scent—less still to respond. He caught the animal in mid-leap, using the beast’s momentum against him as he twisted and flung the beast away. Garrick slammed into a tree, the
crack
of his spine breaking severing the silence.

The gray wolf slumped to the ground, his back legs useless, his front weakly scrabbling against the land. Ryker paced over, meeting the pain-filled eyes of the other. Squatting down, he read the riot of emotion. Garrick had chosen death rather than obey Drew. The Alpha had given the mad wolf one chance to prove his loyalty by returning to the pack—no more hunting people, no more drinking…no more threatening females.

One chance. Instead, he’d chosen suicide by Ryker.

“Good journey to your next life. May it be more forgiving than I.” With a twist, he snapped Garrick’s neck, ending him. Garrick’s attack was the third such suicide in as many weeks. How many more would he have to kill before the last of the broken threads fell away?

Shouldering the wolf’s weight, he rose. He would bury him before he let the Alpha know what Garrick’s answer had been. Mad or not, the choice would leave the new Alpha a bit bruised. Drew felt for his pack, even the more deranged members, and each loss left the younger Tao a little bloodied. It would make him a better Alpha in the long run, but that didn’t mean Ryker had to enjoy telling him.

Five more steps and a new sound reached his ears. One promising a different kind of trouble.

A car on the road. Either another of the pack had found their way home—to challenge or to return, who knew?—or, worse, some errant traveler was making their way through what would soon be a whiteout. The sound continued, not slowing for the only turnoff leading to Los Lobos.

With a grunt, Ryker began walking again. Fat flakes had already begun to fall. The retreat of the engine noise sputtered twice, metal grinding on metal, then the sound shuddered and choked off into silence.

Sighing, he adjusted the weight of the wolf before continuing. He’d traveled less than a half-dozen yards when another scent reached him.

Fuck
.

Human.

It took him a minute to find a hollow to stash Garrick’s limp body—rigor wouldn’t set in for some time. But if he took too long, the body would stiffen. When rigor passed, then and only then, would Garrick resume his human form. Ryker would rather bury the wolf. At least it had chosen an honorable death over the man’s pathetic existence. The human’s scent continued to surround him in the gusts of wind battering the landscape.