Chapter Eighteen

Gabe pitched forward, his foot automatically pressing harder on the accelerator even as he slammed against the seatbelt. The airbag exploded in his face, knocking the wind out of his chest, and forcing his arms to fly open, the impact shattering his death grip on the steering wheel. Tires popped with a loud Bang! and the truck lifted up in back teetering before it hit the peak. Fear rushed through him, sending his blood throbbing, seconds before the truck dropped back down and settled onto the road with a heavy thud.

The shift rose to the surface, his wolf coming to defense.

“Fuck me.” The words were nearly intelligible. Every part of his body throbbed in pain. He scrambled to unbuckle and get the door open, falling out of the car and landing on his shoulder, unable to control the shift rushing over him.

It was hard and fast and painful. Joints popped like firecrackers as his bones shot into their positions—some lengthening, some shortening. His face morphed, and a scream ripped out of him as bruised muscles stretched and changed.

He lay panting and stunned on the side of the road, trying to pull his brain back from the wolf’s control as adrenaline coursed through him. His t-shirt was choking his much larger neck and his tail bunched up inside his shorts. He choked out a ragged howl.

His wolf wanted to rush back and get Serena—she should help them. Gabe forced the wolf’s instincts back. Serena wasn’t his mate. Yet. And while his wolf sensed her dream wolf and knew she was pack, it didn’t understand that she couldn’t shift here and fight off the danger.

He slipped his much smaller paws out of his shoes and stood up on all fours. His left shoulder buckled under him, and his chest ached with a pain he recognized. He had to have broken at least one rib. Probably more than one. Crouching low to the ground, he crow-hopped on three legs for cover. He sniffed for the enemy as he went, but the smell of oil and gasoline and chemicals from the airbag were overpowering and the only thing he caught was a whiff of household cleaner. Gabe’s enforcer instincts kicked in—this hadn’t been an accident. Whoever had done this might still be here, waiting to attack.

Reluctant to howl for help and attract the attention of anyone who might be watching, he slunk from bush to bush. Everything ached, especially his chest from the impact of the airbag, and his forelegs from when his arms had been blown off their position on the wheel. His vision going blurry, he limped down the hill and headed for the ranch.

A mile down the road, staggering with exhaustion, he cleared the trees and stopped to sniff the air. The land spread out in rolling pastures, dotted with black clusters of sheep grazing and sleeping under the night sky. Funnily enough he felt safer out in the open. Out here, he’d see if anyone was following. He took his time, catching his breath in his burning chest, but he couldn’t see or smell anything out of the ordinary. The lights of the main compound were finally in sight. He sent out a howl.

One answered back. Then another, and another. His pack was coming. He dropped to the ground and watched the black shapes of wolves flowing over the hill.

 

Serena raced through the dreamscape on four feet, her wolf glorying in the movement. Here, she could be who she was on the inside, a full shifter, able to howl and fight and run. Here, her wolf was every bit as much a wolf as anyone else’s. She sprinted through the woods, until she came upon a wide pool, full of rising steam.

It wasn’t the pool by the creek where she’d had sex, but being a lucid dreamer, she was aware that that was what it represented. Sex and Gabe and a dip into the wild.

She shifted into human and slid into the water, letting the sensual feel of the hot water caress her skin. Thoughts of sex rose up. She slid her hand down her belly along her skin under the water.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

That was real. She forced herself from the dream. Someone was banging on the front door.

“I’m coming.”

What time was it? It had to be late. She was groggy with sleep and heated dreams, but she grabbed her bathrobe, putting it on over her t-shirt and yoga pants, and went to the front window.

A strange man was standing on her front porch wearing the official Windy Gap enforcer logo—“WG” topped by three stars. And right behind him was Sam, in his own buttoned-down enforcer shirt. She opened the door. “Yes?”

“Sorry to bother you, ma’am. I’m Rico Villalobos, and this is Sam Wulfric, who I think you already know. We’re here because there was an accident.”

“Sam?” She looked from Rico to Sam’s carefully controlled face. “I don’t understand. What’s going on? Is it Gabe?”

Sam’s face contorted, red washing over it. He stepped closer, pushing the door wide. She stumbled out of the way.

He sniffed her hair, her face, and down to her shirt. “He’s been here. He’s all over you.”

She moved back into the cabin, trying to shut the door, but he shoved it wide and followed her in.

“Sam! What the hell?” Rico followed them inside.

“I thought you were staying away from him, from us. Now I find you reeking of his scent.” He grabbed her, pulling her roughly into his arms and rubbing his face on her cheek. The bristles of his scruff cut into her skin.

“Stop it, Sam.” She tried to push him off, but he was too strong.

“Sam, get off her.” Rico grabbed Sam by the shoulders and wrestled him away. Sam’s eyes flashed hot.

“She’s mine, Rico, and he’s rubbed his scent all over her.”

Inside her wolf howled. A wash of heat ran over her skin. Here was a man who wanted them. Here was a strong mate. She took a step forward before catching herself and stopping short. She fought against the wolf. This wasn’t what she wanted, but her wolf was preening inside at the idea of a second male competing for her attention.

She managed to get some words out. “What the hell is going on, Sam?”

Sam and Rico had stopped fighting. Rico let him go.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I had no idea he was in this state or I would never have brought him here.”

“What state?” Her skin flushed. She wanted to go to Sam and rub her scent all over him. Do with him what she’d done with Gabe.

Rico ignored her question and took out his cell phone. “Rico here,” he answered. “I’m at guest cottage number five. The area is secure, but we have a situation here. Send a car. Now.”

The urge to go to Sam was strong, and she was having trouble resisting it. Heat washed over her and a light film of sweat broke out on her skin. She didn’t even hear the rest of the conversation on the radio, she could only focus on Sam’s eyes, boring into hers.

Rico’s head came up, and his nostrils flared. “Uh-oh. Okay, that’s it. Party’s over. Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you.” He nodded at her and grabbed Sam by the arm. “Sam, you’re going outside. Now.”

“No, I’m not.” Sam shook Rico’s hand off. “Serena, you want me. I know you do.”

Her wolf throbbed under her skin, clawing to get out. But it couldn’t. “What’s happening to me?” She couldn’t think.

“It’s the fever.” Rico had Sam by the arm, and was trying to shove his arm behind his back, but Sam was fighting hard. “He’s got the fever and you’re responding to it. We’ll take him to the compound and lock him up. Getting him out of here should help you calm down.”

The fever. Of course. She didn’t have it and couldn’t get it again until she was bitten by a mate. But her wolf instinctively knew what it was and was responding to Sam’s need.

“You can’t fucking lock me up. She’s mine.” Sam pitched his body hard, driving Rico backward.

“Then why the hell does she smell like Gabe, huh, Sam?” Rico braced his legs and shoved Sam against the wall. “If she wanted you she’d be screwing you and not your brother.”

Sam tore away from the other enforcer. He gave Serena a wild look. “You don’t want me?”

Inside, her wolf demanded she go to him. He was a strong mate. But she fought the beast down hard. She had a choice, and while she didn’t know what she wanted with Gabe, she knew—Sam wasn’t it.

“No.” It came out of her mouth almost as a growl. She’d never felt her wolf this strongly before, not since she’d had the Bite as a teenager and gained her wolf and dreamwalking abilities. “Go away, Sam.”

He howled and ran out of the cabin, with Rico right on his heels.

She could hear Sam’s howls as he raced off into the night. Her wolf wanted her to follow him out into the dark, where the scents were strong and his wolf even stronger.

She shook herself hard. “I’m in control, not you.” She shut the door, closing her and her wolf inside, keeping the dangers of the fever out.

What in hell was wrong with her? She was the therapist, the one who helped other people with their issues. Her wolf always wanted to do wild things, but she’d never had trouble controlling it before. Need roiled under her skin, pushing to get out. She wrapped her arms tightly around her body, trying to hold in the wolf, feeling more alone than she ever had in her life. She needed someone, but she had no one here to turn to for help.