Chapter Twenty-Two
Hunter hoped Cade had managed to raise the alarm, though he wasn’t sure what good it would do. Zane wanted the omega, nothing else, and he suspected he was the only one in the pack who’d willingly fight for Cade. Except Seth, Seth would always have Hunter’s back. But Seth wasn’t there and neither were two of the Red Fang wolves who’d gone after Cade. If they caught him…
His distraction was not helping him win the fight. Zane alone he could have handled no problem. Zane and three others and he was stretched to the limit, dodging and trading blows, half of which he barely saw coming, too invested in trying to keep his eyes on Zane. If death would come, it would come from the alpha himself and not one of his lackeys.
His anger spilled over and within a matter of seconds, four adversaries became just one. Zane.
“We’ve been through this, Zane. You know how this ends.”
The alpha grinned. “I think, on this occasion, you’ll be surprised.”
Unpleasantly surprised, Hunter thought a moment later when the two wolves rejoined Zane and one of the ones he’d knocked down got back up. Four-on-one again, back to where he’d started. Where the hell was Cade? He hadn’t heard a bike yet but he kept hoping, at any moment, that he would. A fifth wolf clambered to his feet and Hunter growled his frustration. Couldn’t they just stay down?
Thinking about the omega brought another surge of anger through him. How dare Zane come for him, touch him, threaten him. That anger spilled over, like a sea of red, with two words in the center of Hunter’s mind. He’s mine.
He gave into the anger, stopped thinking, and just fought. Every movement was effortless, every blow delivered with perfect force. One of the wolves went down easily, leaving three more for Hunter to mop the floor with. Zane was right in front of him, while the other wolves circled behind. He heard the sound of splintering wood and spun around, kicking the broken piece of spear from the wolves hand, shattering his wrist in the process.
The motion put his back to Zane and before he could turn back around, pain blossomed through his shoulder. He reached back, grabbing hold of the spear, and turned to see Zane’s face grinning back at him. He yanked out the spear, pulling it from his shoulder and Zane’s hands, crushing it and letting the pieces fall to the ground.
The last of Zane’s fighters ran at him, another spear in hand, and Hunter tried to defend himself. There was a roar, louder and deeper than any sound Hunter had ever made, and something huge and striped pounced on the wolf, dragging it down to the ground. A familiar scent hit Hunter. Cade.
Zane stood frozen beside him but when Hunter charged toward him he turned and ran. One of the other wolves managed to get up, took one look at Cade’s shifter form and ran after Zane. Hunter let them go. They wouldn’t be back. That he was sure of.
He sank to his knees on the ground, one hand on his shoulder. The spear had punctured through leaving a wound front and back. Damn it. How was he going to explain that to Angus? Not to mention the bodies littering the ground. They’d blame Cade for this, he just knew they would.
Speaking of the omega, Hunter turned in time to get another glimpse just before he changed back. There was no mistaking the orange and black stripes of a tiger.
“So I was right,” he called, saying the first thing that came into his mind. “You are a cat.”
Cade looked a little shocked, his face pale and his eyes wide. “Yeah. I… I couldn’t shift before, I was feeling too bad.”
“I guess you’re feeling better.”
“I guess.”
“Zane certainly seemed to think so.”
Cade managed a weak smile, sinking to his knees next to him. “Your shoulder.”
“It’s not so bad.” Except it kind of felt bad. The wound throbbed and there was a warm, stinging pain that was growing. He yanked his shirt out of the way to get a closer look, noticing an odd red line snaking across his skin away from the wound.
“That doesn’t look good,” the omega said.
“It’s okay. Look, Cade, you need to go.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Yes, you are. Take my phone, call your family, get them to meet you. Zane could come back anytime and my pack aren’t exactly going to be happy when they see this. I-” It was hard to admit, because he loved his family, but he had to be honest. “I’m not sure what they might do when they realize. They’re scared of Red Fang. If they think the pack is at risk, they might want to hand you over. They won’t fight for you, not like I would. Seth would have my back, maybe one or two others, but not if Angus was against us.”
He could see the wheels turning in Cade’s mind and hoped the omega listened to reason. Finally, Cade stood, nodding slowly and taking the phone from Hunter’s hand. “Once I’m away from here, I’ll call Seth, make sure he knows you need help.”
Hunter managed a weak smile. He was starting to feel hot all over. Whatever the hell the Red Fang doused those spears with, he didn’t think he’d be walking away from this.
“Thanks, I know you have my back. Go, please.”
All Cade’s plans were falling into place, only not the way he’d intended. Red Fang had been dealt with. And Hunter, who he’d always planned to leave behind, he’d left dying on the road. He was free to return to his den.
Once he was past the turn in the road, out of sight of Hunter, he stopped, taking a breath, giving himself a moment to think. Not just about what he wanted or about what Hunter wanted, but about all the time they’d spent together, their every interaction. And Hunter telling him to run while facing off against six angry wolves. He forced himself onward, sneaking to the pack house and stealing the motorcycle from outside. One of the young kids saw him through the window. Katie. He put a finger to his lips and she mimicked him, smiling widely. He turned the bike around and started wheeling it away. No one shouted, no one came after him. He didn’t wait long before gunning the engine and driving back to Hunter.
Hunter had moved to lean against the trunk of a tree and he was looking up at the sky. When he saw Cade, he frowned.
“You’re going the wrong way. You should be heading that way.” He pointed toward the open road.
“Not without you, I’m not.”
“Cade—”
“No, I’m not leaving you here. I don’t know what was on that spear but maybe there’s still a chance I can save you, if I can get you back to River Den.”
Hunter frowned up at him. “River Den?”
“My home.”
“I’ll slow you down.”
Cade ignored him, clambering off the bike and crouching by Hunter’s side. He positioned himself so Hunter’s arm was across his shoulders and supported him back to his feet.
“You’re strong, Hunter. You might be the strongest shifter I’ve ever met. Your shifter side isn’t completely dormant. That’s why the anger all your life. And why the faster healing since you’ve been around me. I think I’m bringing it out in you. You said it wasn’t you and I said it wasn’t me. And we were both right and both wrong. It’s happening because we’re together.”
“So why didn’t you tell me you could shift? Why all the secrecy about your home?”
Cade had hoped to dodge that question.
“I’m sorry.” His voice was a whisper. “I was trying to protect myself and them.”
Hunter waved it off. “I can’t blame you for the choices you’ve been making. I haven’t exactly been making stellar ones myself. Plus, that’s twice now you could have left me and twice you’ve come back. You must really like me.”
It surprised a laugh from him.
“I must.”
Cade got Hunter to the bike. “Can you ride?”
“Yeah. Hop on behind me and let’s get the hell out of here.”
Hunter got Cade to call Seth while they rode. The pack needed some warning as to what they’d find on the road in. He didn’t tell Seth much more, except that Zane had come for him and Hunter was getting him somewhere safe. The omega mentioned Hunter’s injury, but kept it brief, warning that there was poison on the spears. Cade hung up abruptly and Hunter guessed Seth was trying to play fifty questions.
He wasn’t sure how long they traveled for, Cade giving directions now and then. All he knew was that he felt like crap and as the minutes passed, that feeling grew worse and worse.
He pulled over at a bridge, driving the bike down onto the bank.
“I need a few minutes,” he said.
His wounds had mostly stopped bleeding, except his shoulder, and he washed the worst of the blood off in the river, Cade hovering by his side.
“How’s your shoulder?” the omega asked.
“It’s not so bad.” Though it was throbbing like crazy. “We should keep going in case someone’s following us.”
“No one’s following us, Hunter.”
He tried to get up from his knees but sank back down.
“What you said before, about my animal form, what does that mean?”
“It means when you fight, you draw on the power of your animal. Most shifters are limited in how they can do that. They actually have to change forms to get the full force of their animal strength but you… you can call on it at any time. For you, four warriors would be nothing.”
Hunter tried to stand again, wincing. “It sure as hell doesn’t feel like nothing. In fact, it feels like a whole lot of something.”
Cade frowned and stepped closer, resting a hand on Hunter’s face. “You’re warm. Really warm…” He trailed off.
“What?”
“I think I know what poison this is.”
As Cade spoke, a stab of pain laced through Hunter’s shoulder and he grabbed onto the omega to keep himself upright. Cade pulled his shirt away from the wound on his shoulder. The lines of red leading away from the still bleeding wound had multiplied. Hunter glanced down at it. “Oh, shit. That’s not good.”
“I think it’s Claw’s Lock,” Cade said. “The spread of the poison, the skin discoloration, the fever… it all fits.”
Hunter didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say. Claw’s Lock had no antidote. It killed humans and human form shifters alike.
He pushed away from the wall and tried to keep moving, ignoring the heat spreading through his body and the pain in his shoulder like the spear was stabbing him, over and over. He only made it another few feet, Cade by his side, before the dizziness hit. Cade caught his arm and helped him to the ground.
“You should go,” Hunter said. “I’m only slowing you down and we both know I won’t be getting up again.”
Cade knelt by his side. “We could…”
“You know as well as I do that this is the end of the road for me. Go, please. Get yourself safely home before Zane and his friends catch up with us.”
The omega caught Hunter’s face in both his hands, pressing their foreheads together and whispering to him. Hunter’s couldn’t make out the words, a loud buzzing filling his ears.
And then Cade was gone from sight. Hunter settled back against the grass, peering up at the rapidly darkening sky above. He hoped to see blue in those last few moments but all he could see above him were clouds.