2
Lobo jogged down the maze of tunnels as if he owned them—just the way Hunter would do. At first the hard-packed dirt hallways were empty and dark, but the closer he got to the living quarters, the more finished and bright the tunnels became, and the more people he encountered.
They stared, but then, Lobo doubted that Hunter often ran through the compound with a dying wolf in his arms.
Dying. She’s dying.
He breathed through the lump of grief lodged in his throat and tried to focus on not getting caught. Running into Hunter would be especially problematic.
He hadn’t been here since he’d been banished, but he remembered some of the carvings in the walls and the way roots dangled from the earthen ceiling. Back then, there hadn’t been nearly as much light. Rooms had been little more than rustic caves, and there had been far fewer of them. Unsure where exactly he should be going, he headed for what had been a crude first-aid station when he’d lived here.
To his relief, the door to the room had a first-aid cross painted on it, as well as a sign that indicated it was now a medical lab.
Good enough.
The door was propped open; beyond it a silver-haired male he didn’t recognize was flipping through papers, and a heavily pregnant female was bending over a microscope, her strawberry-blond hair concealing her face. He didn’t know her personally, had only seen her from afar, but he’d spoken with MoonBound members who claimed that Nicole had once been the human enemy, an expert in vampire physiology whose family ran a vampire slavery and research empire. Now, as a vampire herself, she was mated to Hunter’s second in command, and she was the closest thing the clan had to a real medical doctor.
“Help,” he barked as he rushed to the exam table on the far side of the room. “This wolf was shot.”
Nicole’s pregnancy didn’t slow her at all, and she was at Tehya’s side in an instant. “Poor thing,” she murmured as she pulled on surgical gloves. “What happened? A hunter?”
“Poacher,” Lobo spat, practically tasting the acid in his voice. “Wolves are protected.” Unnecessarily taking the life of any animal offended everything that made Lobo who he was, right down to his native blood. Nature deserved respect. Reverence. What man did to nature made him heartsick.
The silver-haired male appeared at Nicole’s side, his white lab coat speckled with a veritable color wheel of stains. “I’ll intubate and start IV fluids. Can you control the bleeding?”
“I don’t know.” Nicole cursed under her breath and grabbed for a tray of medical equipment on a nearby counter. “What kind of coward kills for the sake of killing?”
Lobo wished he could answer that, but really, the world was full of cowards who killed for fun, and there was no explaining it. He ran his hand over Tehya’s rib cage, hating the choppy rise and fall of her chest as each labored breath rattled in her lungs.
So much rage and anguish welled in his throat that he could barely manage a raspy, “Can you save her?”
The expression on the doctor’s face made his chest constrict. “Grant and I will do the best we can.”
“Do more than your best,” Lobo growled.
Nicole’s silver gaze flickered up to him. “You seem to be rather invested in this wolf’s survival.”
Grant nodded in agreement, his own silver eyes snapping up to study Lobo a little too intently for his liking.
Shit. Lobo forced himself to calm down and assume Hunter’s haughty arrogance. “She didn’t deserve what that human did to her.”
That seemed to placate the doctor, and she gave a curt nod as she went to work on Tehya’s gunshot wound. Grant’s wary gaze made Lobo sweat for another nerve-racking heartbeat, and then the guy turned his attention back to the wolf.
Footsteps out in the hall reminded Lobo that he was on borrowed time. As much as he wanted to stay, he couldn’t hold Hunter’s image for long—and worse, Hunter himself could show up at any moment.
He had to get out of there. But then what? Eventually either Nicole or Grant would seek out Hunter to update him on the wolf’s condition, and the ruse would be exposed. Lobo wasn’t worried about himself; he’d deal with the consequences. But what would happen to Tehya? He doubted Hunter would harm her—but then Hunter was his father’s son, and his father had been a brutal, vicious leader who wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter an animal for no reason other than to punish someone who cared about it. And given Lobo’s history with Hunter—
“Hunter?” Nicole snapped her bloody fingers in front of his face. “Hunter!”
“Yeah. Sorry.” He was getting sloppy. He raked his hand through his hair, belatedly realizing he was as covered in Tehya’s blood as Nicole was. “What is it?”
“Let us handle this.” Her voice was commanding yet compassionate, and he relaxed a little. “We’ll update you when we can.”
Grant taped the breathing tube to Tehya’s muzzle, and Lobo’s heart clenched. To see such a powerful, brave, loyal creature reduced to this . . . Without thinking, he threaded his fingers through Tehya’s thick ruff and bent to press his forehead against hers.
“Be strong,” he whispered.
Unable to bear Grant and Nicole’s looks of pity, confusion, or suspicion, and even less able to bear watching Tehya die, he got the hell out of there. It was only his rubbery legs, and not his strength of will, that forced him to walk instead of make a mad dash of desperation to the exit.
Empty halls gave him a clear path until, just as he reached the fork that would take him either to the social center of the compound or to the outside world, a female with gray-streaked, spiky black hair rounded the corner.
Su’Neena.
In an instant, icy sweat coated his skin and his ribs ached, as if remembering all the times her foot had cracked them.
He’d come here as an orphan, his parents killed by MoonBound butchers, and Su’Neena had enjoyed using him as her personal whipping boy. So when his chance to take revenge had come, he’d seized it, only to have it backfire. He’d caught her betraying the clan, but she’d lied, and the clan’s fear of his abilities had been enough to give her the benefit of the doubt.
He’d been banished, but that hadn’t been enough for Su’Neena. She’d called for his execution and had tried twice since then to kill him. Openly. Brazenly. He’d dodged one arrow, but the scar on his thigh would forever remind him that she was serious about wanting him dead.
Tensing, he covertly checked her for weapons, but her hands were empty.
“Hunter.” She gave him a respectful nod as she passed, and he blew out a relieved, shaky breath, feeling foolish for worrying she’d recognize him. He was Hunter right now, not Lobo, and he was almost safe. A few more yards . . .
He stepped through the stone doorway and sucked in a huge lungful of fresh evening air. Smelled like victory. He smiled until he remembered why he’d just risked his life.
Holding on to Hunter’s form until he could get safely away, he reached out to Tehya with his mind as he jogged through the twilight toward the safety of his cabin. If she was conscious, he’d feel her.
Nothing. She could be either unconscious or dead; he had no way of knowing.
Anger, sorrow, and frustration boiled in his chest, gathering steam until he felt as though he was going to explode. He needed to do something, but what? He felt so helpless and . . . alone. He hadn’t truly realized how much Tehya had enriched his life until now.
Needing to outrun his thoughts, he first slowed down to concentrate on ditching Hunter’s skin. As he took a bracing breath to begin the process, a female voice called to him.
Called to Hunter.
Son of a bitch. This was the last thing he needed right now. Cursing, he kept going as if he hadn’t heard anything, but a moment later a hand gripped his elbow and gently pulled him to a halt.
When he turned around, he nearly groaned at the sight of Hunter’s mate, Aylin, standing there in worn jeans, a form-fitting blue tank top, and white running shoes. He’d never met her, but he’d seen her from afar, and he’d gotten bits and pieces of information about her from the MoonBound females he fed from on the nights of the full moon. She seemed to be well liked and smart, and, if the intel was accurate, her influence had mellowed Hunter a lot.
“What are you doing here?” She reached back and fiddled with the leather band holding her long blond ponytail. “I didn’t expect you back from your meeting with GraveBorn clan until tomorrow night.”
Oh, wasn’t that just great. No wonder everyone had been staring at him. Hunter wasn’t supposed to be here.
She frowned at his shirt and hands. “And why are you covered in blood?” She sniffed and added, “Wolf blood.”
“I found an injured wolf and brought it to Nicole,” he said easily, because that, at least, was the truth.
Cocking her head, she studied him for so long that his hands grew clammy and his pulse pounded in his ears. If anyone could see through his disguise, it would be Hunter’s mate. Finally she reached out and tugged on his hair.
“This is different. You haven’t worn braids in a long time.” She frowned. “And I swear it’s longer than it was yesterday.”
Oh, shit. He hadn’t even thought about Hunter’s hair when he’d shifted. He’d simply taken his most prominent memory of Hunter and given himself the braids the clan leader sported at formal events . . . such as banishing skinwalkers from the clan.
“I . . .” What had she said about GraveBorn? He was at a meeting? “I thought the meeting with GraveBorn deserved something more formal.” He swept the braid back over his shoulder so she’d forget the length, which he couldn’t explain.
“Well, you should wear it like that more often. I like it.” A sly smile curved her mouth, and his mouth went dry as she eased up to him, pressing her body against his. “Since you’re already here, do you have time for me?” Her hand slid from his chest to his abs, and then lower, to his waistband. “We can take a dip in the river. You can wash your clothes and let them dry while we mess around.” Her voice went deeper as her blue eyes darkened into tide pools of seduction. “Remember what we did on the riverbank last fall?”
He actually did remember that, because he’d come upon them while out on a run in wolf form. He’d watched, probably for longer than was considered polite, as Hunter made love to his mate with the wilderness surrounding them. Their cries had filled the air with primal sounds of passion but had filled his chest with longing.
“I can’t,” he croaked, trying to disengage himself from her, but she stayed with him, and now her hand was slipping under his waistband.
“Oh,” she said saucily, “I know you can.”
Shit. She was hot and all, but if he thought that impersonating Hunter would get him dead, Lobo knew that messing with Hunter’s mate would get him painfully dead.
Very gently, as if she were as delicate as a feather, he gripped her wrist and pushed her away. “Later,” he said, hoping she didn’t notice the slight tremor in his voice. “I still have the GraveBorn meeting. I promise to find you the second I get back.”
“Fine.” She pouted playfully and dropped her hands to her sides. “I guess I should let you build up your strength for tomorrow anyway.”
Tomorrow? Oh, right . . . tomorrow was the new moon, the night when female vampires needed to feed from males.
He hadn’t fed a female in months. Tehya’s jealousy made it too difficult, so he usually avoided it until around the year mark when the headaches started. He wasn’t sure why that happened, and no doubt Nicole could answer that question; but whatever the reason, he always felt better after donating a little vein juice to a hungry female.
“Oh.” Aylin reached out and grasped his wrist, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He wasn’t used to being touched, and he certainly didn’t know how Hunter would react. “I have to tell you what I did today.”
Lobo glanced around, on alert for anyone who might be approaching. Clear so far, but MoonBound was an active clan, and he doubted it would be long before someone came along. “What did you do?”
“I opened a portal to Wallowa Lake, and I held it open for fifteen full minutes.”
He whipped his head around and stared. To his horror, he was unable to stop staring. Gaping, really. Surely she wasn’t talking about a portal. A method of traveling from one location to another distant location in a matter of seconds.
“You . . . wait. What?”
“I know!” She bounced on her toes. “That’s the longest I’ve held one open, and it’s the farthest away I’ve been able to get. Well, aside from Samnult’s realm, of course. Riker wouldn’t let me go through it because he’s still on that kick about wanting me to be able to hold a portal open without it flickering before we start using them for long-distance travel, but we’re close. Really close.”
Sweet Maker, he’d thought the ability to swiftwalk was nothing but legend. Then again, most people thought skinwalkers were fiction as well. But swiftwalking . . . holy shit, with Aylin as his mate, Hunter could rule the damned world. Suddenly the battle among three clans and the humans a few months ago made sense. MoonBound had fought against two large vampire clans and a human army, and had somehow won, while dozens of humans, maybe as many as a couple of hundred, had disappeared off the face of the earth. Had they used one of Aylin’s portals to send the humans somewhere? Like, say, to this Samnult’s realm she’d mentioned?
“You know,” she said in a hushed voice, “if I open a portal for you, you could be at the GraveBorn meeting in seconds, and Riker will never have to know.”
Still rattled by the fact that they were casually talking about something he’d thought was impossible, he stammered out a lame, “Ah, thanks, but you know Riker will find out.”
In reality, he had no idea if the guy would find out or not. Riker, Hunter’s second in command, hadn’t been at MoonBound back when Lobo had been a member, and Lobo had only spoken to the guy a handful of times to share information about human movement in the forests.
Aylin sighed. “You’re probably right. He’s like a drill sergeant in those military movies you make me watch.” She went up on her toes and surprised him with a lingering, tender kiss so full of affection that his heart ached. Hunter was one lucky bastard. When she broke it off, he was almost disappointed. “Now get going,” she said brightly. “The sooner you take care of business, the sooner you can come back to me.”
She gave him a swat on the ass and a naughty smile; as he walked away, he rubbed his chest, but it did nothing to assuage the jealousy and longing that throbbed just under his breastbone.
He’d been alone for so long, with only Tehya as company, and as much as he loved the wolf, snuggling with her by the fire wasn’t the same as snuggling with a female of the same species. When Hunter kicked him out of the clan, Lobo had lost everything, including the hope that one of the clan females would become his mate.
Mentally giving himself a kick—feeling sorry for himself wasn’t acceptable—he headed back to his cabin to pray to whatever god would listen that Tehya pulled through.