Boiling lava coated Ryan’s bones and something was clawing its way through him from the inside out. Broken bits of conversation floated across his tormented mind, and all he wanted to do was shut it all out.
“How long…”
No matter how hard he tried to hide, there was no relief.
“Head back…”
Even the roots of his hair writhed in agony.
“Hold his chin down.”
Liquid mercury seared its way down Ryan’s esophagus and ice hit his veins. He came sputtering up from wherever his consciousness had been trying to hide, coughing and heaving. His cheek stung and someone roughly grabbed his shoulders to “help” him sit up.
“Wake up, asshole.”
“Give him a minute for chrissake.”
Ryan pried his eyes open and tried to focus. What the hell was going on?
“He doesn’t need it. The antidote’s fast acting. Watch.”
Garath? Ryan’s insides tried again to make a break for it through his spine, bending it like a pretzel, and a firestorm charged through the rest of his body. Then as quickly as it started, the agony stopped. There hadn’t even been time to scream before it vanished, leaving Ryan in a puddle of sweat and confusion.
“See, done.”
“You don’t have to be enjoying it so much. That shit’s worse than the bloody poison.”
Ryan’s lungs recalled what they were for and things started to come into focus. “Zander?”
“Yeah, whelp, I’m here, and so’s your hilarious cousin.”
A much older version of his childhood friend stepped into Ryan’s line of sight, and with the increased size and bulk, there was no mistaking the fact Garath’s natural aura of menace had grown right along with them. Ryan forced himself to sit straighter and coughed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Saving your sorry ass from a bout of wolfsbane poisoning. Though what the hell I was thinking is beyond me. It wouldn’t have killed you; you just would’ve wished it had.”
Poison? What? Ryan wobbled to his feet then grabbed the wall to stay there. “What’s going on, how long have I been out?”
“Not that long. I’d say you went toes up about the same time my Learjet touched down, so a little over an hour or so ago.”
The trailer listed back to level in his perception, and Ryan tested standing on his own without its help. His vision cleared, bringing the rest of his surroundings back into focus. The half-empty bottle of wine on the counter triggered the rest of his missing pieces; Sara did this to him? Bile churned in his stomach. Please let there be a good explanation, and what had Garath done with her? If he’d hurt her— Ryan lunged at his cousin. “Where is she?”
Garath grabbed Ryan’s collar and growled back into his face. “I was just going to ask you the same thing. Where the hell are the Wulverkynn?” Ryan spun out of his grip, and Garath retaliated by jabbing a finger at his face. “If anything’s happened to those women, I’ll make sure you’re not only stripped of Designate, I’ll see you banished—”
Ryan thrust his palms into Garath’s collarbones sending him back against the edge of the island. He may not know what to think about what she’d done, but damn it, they had names. “If anything happens to either Sara or Hailey, I’ll do you one better. I’ll roll over, baring my throat, and won’t do a fucking thing to stop you!”
Zander snapped his jaws. “Enough! You can kill each other all you want later. Right now, we need to go after Sara.”
Ryan glared at his nemesis and circled away from him, not willing to turn his back on him, noting Garath did the same. As much as it grated on Ryan, Zander was right. Now wasn’t the time, so he lifted his hands palms forward and grimaced. “Fine. Truce. For now.”
Garath barely nodded.
“Gods help us if you two are indicative of what our Alpha-line families have come to.” Zander flicked his massive tail at them in disgust on his way to the door. “If you’re done marking territory, I suggest we get moving. I heard Sara on the phone and whoever was on the other end is forcing her somehow. My guess would be they have her sister and are behind this whole thing. Which means to get them both back, along with some fucking answers, we need to get moving now!”
Ryan forgot about everything else. “Do you know where she was going?”
“Yes, Doll’s Head Trail.”
Ryan’s inner wolf stared through his eyes, gnashing his teeth, and saw his counterpart in Garath’s burning gaze. He and Ryan may have issues but their wolves were allies in this. “That’s only a few miles across the reserve from here.”
“So, it is, and she’s got over an hour on us, so I suggest we haul ass.”
*****
They decided against Ryan and Garath changing until they had a better idea what they were up against. Sometimes opposable thumbs trumped fangs, particularly if guns might be involved.
Sara’s trail led into the nature preserve at the far end of the lot from Ryan’s trailer. Being that close, it had been easy to find, allowing them to catch up quickly. Tracking her from far enough back to not give them away, on the other hand, was torture for Ryan. Nor could he risk exposure when two men stepped out from the bushes and grabbed her arms, forcing her to pick up speed as they dragged her down the trail. He’d nearly lost it.
The increased threat to her brought his wolf closer to the surface, eager to take back what belonged to it, and this time Ryan was in complete agreement. The hunt was on. “Garath?”
“Right flank covered.”
“Zander?”
“Left covered, and moving in tighter.”
Ryan crept forward to within fifty feet of the trio, crouched behind a fallen tree, and lifted his nose to the wind. There were others close by. Sara was being herded toward a break in the trees, and from this vantage point, he could see past her position into the clearing itself. He noted two additional men. One, in a bulky vest, was ten feet past where Sara’s party would clear the tree line, and another stood off to the right, wearing a skullcap. Ryan sucked in a breath. Bingo. Kneeling at the bastard’s feet was Hailey, struggling with the bindings on her wrists. “I have eyes on four, all with weapons. Garath?”
“Confirmed.”
“Zander?”
“Confirmed.”
Working as a pack, Ryan hoped they’d be fast enough to take the weapons out of play.
Sara’s party broke through the trees into the moonlit clearing, and she spotted her sister right away. “Hailey! Are you okay?” She tried to pull away from her captors only to have them yank her back by her arms. “Ahhh!”
Ryan’s nostrils flared, and he eased out of his crouch with a low growl in his throat, but kept a leash on his chomping wolf.
“Easy, whelp.”
“I’m fine.”
The one in the vest moved in and grabbed Sara by her hair. “Keep that shit up and she won’t be. Got it?”
Ryan recognized his voice. It was the second attacker from the hotel.
Hailey piped up. “Alvin, you asswipe, leave her alone!”
Her outburst earned her a backhand from behind, courtesy of skullcap, knocking her onto her side.
Ryan’s lip curled. He was going enjoying making these pricks pay. “Right advance to within striking distance. Left shadow position.” He didn’t need a response to know the other Wulver were already moving in a pattern they’d all been imprinted with before birth.
“Who are you people?” Sara struggled to free her arms again, succeeding with one only because the one called Alvin let it go. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?”
He laughed. “What do we want?” He spun a slow circle as though playing to an audience in the round. “Why, to finish what we started decades ago, of course.”
“Finish what? I don’t understand.”
Alvin now appeared to be stalking Sara, who had nowhere to go. “Of course, you don’t. This righteous path was sanctioned long before you were spawned.”
Fucker was certifiable, and the tighter he moved in on Sara, the higher Ryan’s hackles rose. To hell with this. Slinking low to the ground, he darted to a clump of bushes at the edge of the clearing, gaining thirty feet. He didn’t dare go any closer or they’d spot him, but if that bastard hurt her, all bets were off.
“Whelp?”
“I told you I’ve got this.”
“What has any of this got to do with us?”
That quake in Sara’s voice was another thing they’d pay for.
“I’ll tell you what you have to do with it.” The bastard slid his finger along her jaw, and Ryan bared his teeth. “You and your sister, along with any other remnant of your kind we track down are…bait.”
The quake was now laced with a hint of hysterics. “Bait? Bait for what?”
“For the abominations that need your kind of abomination to breed.”
Hailey had regained her position and spoke up again. “He’s out of his mind, Sara. He keeps going on about cutting heads off Greek letters. Don’t give him a fucking platform.”
“She opens her mouth again, rip out her tongue.”
Sara gasped. “No!”
Alvin grabbed Sara’s chin this time. “Wiping out the broodmares, as entertaining as it is, hasn’t been as successful as hoped. There always seems to be another of you hiding behind a Dumpster somewhere.” He released Sara’s face with a shove, then wiped his fingers on his pants.
Ryan’s canines dropped, and his vision shifted to the full Wulver spectrum.
“So now you’ll be used as bait to bag the Alphas before we put you down. By wiping out the strongest of them, plus depriving them of breeders, it’s only a matter of time before the remaining abominations fade into a justifiable and highly satisfying extinction. Ta-da.”
Sara shook her head slowly. “Do you even hear yourself? My god, Hailey’s right, you are insane. The only abomination I see in all this is you.”
“Bitch.” The man still holding Sara let go to slam his fist into the side of her head, and she hit the ground hard.
“No!” Ryan launched with his fangs fully extended before he realized his brain had given his body the command to do either.
“Ryan, he’s got a gun!”
In his peripheral vision, Ryan saw Garath mow down the third one on this side of the clearing just as his human mind registered Zander’s warning, but it was too late, the muzzle was already aimed at his chest.
“Whelp!”
A streak of silver and black flew in front of Ryan as the gun went off. He tried to redirect Zander’s airborne body, but wasn’t fast enough. A sharp yelp rang in Ryan’s ears and a hot splash of blood bathed his face.
“Nooo!”
Fueled by rage and still under the power of his initial charge, Ryan tucked and rolled into the knees of the bastard who’d shot Zander. He went down fast, and Ryan was at his throat before his head hit the ground.
“Stop or she dies!”
The air around them stilled as though holding its breath and the only thing Ryan moved was his eyes as he lifted them from his prey. A rumble deep in his chest clawed its way up his throat and out past his curled lips. Sara was back on her feet, only now, Alvin had a gun to her head.
*****
The cold metal burned Sara’s bruised temple, and the blood racing through her veins roared in her ears like a hurricane. The moment the one who’d hit her fired his gun, her world had flashed black. Now, looking at Ryan crouched over the creep’s quaking form, she no longer cared that he was something more than human. It was Ryan, the man she loved, staring back at her from within that feral face, and she’d nearly lost him.
“Let. Her. Go.” Even the guttural sounds coming from his mouth didn’t bother her.
“Sheridan?”
“Stay there, Garath. Keep that one down.”
Alvin grabbed his own crotch and fondled himself, nudging the barrel of the gun away from Sara’s skin in the process. “Maybe I’ll have a little fun with her before I blow her brains out, huh. What do think, dog face?”
Sara heard Hailey gasp and looked up, sending her a sharp warning with her eyes. She couldn’t bear being the cause of her sister’s death any more than she could Ryan’s. But the look Hailey gave her back wasn’t what she’d expected. She too was on her feet with a creep holding her from behind, but she was glaring at Sara with her eyebrows high and her lips pursed.
“Touch her and I’ll tear your limbs off one by one. Slowly.” Ryan’s threat was issued without emotion, sending a chill up even Sara’s spine.
Everything around her was a lit powder keg. She had to do something. Sara stared at her sister and racked her brain to figure out what all the faces she was making meant. Then Hailey glanced up past her eyebrows as though looking behind her, and the lightbulb came on for Sara.
Hailey had taught her some moves she’d learned on the streets, and what she wanted Sara to do now might just work. Sara blinked once slowly so Hailey would know her message was received then bided her time. She didn’t have to wait long.
Alvin moved the gun away completely to wave it around as he taunted Ryan. “Yeah? That right? How ’bout I make you watch while I chew on your little bone here. Hey, freak?”
Alvin was so intent on baiting Ryan he wasn’t paying any attention to her. It was now or never. Sara nodded a fraction and started to mouth a silent countdown while shooting off a fast prayer. On three, she and her sister both slammed their heads back into their captor’s faces.
“Fuck!”
“Bitch!”
As Alvin’s grip loosened, Sara shot her arms above her head and let her knees buckle, sliding out of his grasp to the ground and started to roll for all she was worth.
A second deafening blast went off above her.
*****
“Sara!” Ryan catapulted his body up and forward, aiming at Alvin. A close explosion assaulted his sensitive ears and fire tore through his shoulder, knocking him off his feet. Garath growled though their link and pushed half off his prisoner to drag Sara to safety.
“Ryan, look out!”
Alvin’s first shot had been reflex, hitting Ryan by accident. Now he was taking aim on purpose. The end of the gun took up half Ryan’s sightline. At this range, even with a Wulver’s accelerated healing, there was little chance he’d survive. Thank gods Garath held Sara’s face to his chest, saving her from witnessing what was to come.
Spittle flew from the Alvin’s mouth and blood ran freely from his nose where she’d struck him. Insanity blazed from his eyes and his finger slowly squeezed the trigger. “Die, you fu—” His chest blew open before Ryan’s recovering ears heard the high-powered rifle report.
The body of his would-be killer toppled forward onto its face, and out of the silence that followed, what had to be a figment of Ryan’s imagination melted out of the foliage beyond. Either that or Ryan had died and just didn’t know it yet.
Ryan shook his head, hoping it was just his eyes being as screwed up as his ears, but the apparition kept moving closer.
The black-clad figure stopped before him and lowered his firearm. The face showed little of the animation he remembered, and the eyes held none of their previous warmth. But Ryan knew every inch of it. He looked at one nearly identical to it every morning in the mirror. “Ethan?”
Some of the cold thawed from his eyes and a crooked smile steeped in sadness appeared on his face. “Hello, little brother.”