She needed to be tracked down, yes. But these men, his pack, had gathered to be under his protection. His guidance. All the reasons he hadn’t wanted to be Alpha in the first place made themselves abundantly clear.
Chase drew back his animal. Reined in the beast with every ounce of his energy, but it had to be done. The transformation to human left him sweaty and aching, legs shaking for a moment as he adjusted.
On top of his other complaints, that the shift no longer felt good totally sucked.
“Delton. Let me talk to them.”
The old-timer had five wolves gathered on the lawn in front of the cabin. “I thought you’d be in the bush by now. What gives?”
Chase scrubbed a hand over his scalp. “Something’s coming.”
Delton swung toward the tree line, his sharp gaze examining the bush. “That does put a kink in the search plans.”
Out from their resting spots, all the outcasts rose and stepped toward the cabin. There were more than Chase remembered from before he and Shelley had headed north the previous day. “I can’t go. I have to stay.”
Delton nodded. “You want me to go?”
Shelley wouldn’t be as frightened if the kindly old cougar was with the wolves that chased her. Also, the man creaked in either form. Sending him away from what could be a deadly fight might be the best possible solution.
Chase stared at the wolf shifters. “You know the lady? Shelley? She’s important to me. I don’t know why Jones took her. Find her. Take Delton, find Shelley and Jones.” At the last minute he reluctantly remembered one more warning. “Don’t hurt the boy.”
Delton stripped, his wiry muscles covered with snowy white hair. “Don’t bring her back unless it’s safe?”
“Right. The chopper should set down in the clearing. Stay out of sight if you can, but once you find her, try to get her on it.”
The old man shifted, his cougar more grey than tan. Four of the wolves pranced around him, then they all went to the side of the house, sniffing eagerly below the windowsill.
They weren’t bloodhounds, they were better. No one made a sound, but it was clear they’d caught the scent. Seconds later the group vanished into the bush behind the cabin, Delton hard on their heels.
Chase’s fingers twitched. His body was on fire, and this time the ache had nothing to do with the injury to his shoulder, and everything to do with wanting to go after the woman he’d come to admire so very much.
He strode forward to meet the men left behind. The ones who didn’t fit in, who had placed themselves into isolation. Yet, now when their lives and the lives of others might depend on solidarity, there were no boundaries between them. Bear, wolf, cat and all the variations thereof.
Together.
Chase stood and looked them over. Stared into faces. Saw the strain of years of loneliness. The power and determination they’d gained from surviving where others wouldn’t last a week.
“Don’t know what’s coming, but be ready.”
They stared back. No one moved. Waiting.
Chase nodded once, giving approval that they’d sorely lacked in their lives. Giving them a place to belong. “We fight only to keep what’s ours.”
They turned as one, scattering to their campsites, removing clothing and shifting into their animals.
Within five minutes Chase was surrounded again, this time by the strangest of menageries. Massive grizzlies, smaller black bears. Pumas and bobcats and a couple of lynx. There was a three-legged wolf and a dozen more lupines, their fur every variation of silver through black.
All of them sniffing the air warily.
Frank stood on his hind legs. The upright position placed him a good three feet taller than the rest of the group, but even he didn’t respond.
Waiting sucked hugely.
“Keep to the clearing until we know what’s up. Wolves. Patrol the tree line.” Chase planned to stay in his human form as long as possible.
The breeze over his naked skin refreshed and cooled the burning. Whatever was out there was on the move—of that he had no doubt.
How he could tell? He wasn’t human to require more reasons. It was enough he and all the others knew something was approaching, and all they could do was stay ready.
A wolf howled from the far right. For a moment he thought it was the search party returning already with Shelley, and he was ready to run and grab her and give her a piece of his mind, right after he kissed her senseless.
Instead it was one of the wolves he’d just sent out scouting, and his heart fell.
The silvery figure cut off in mid-howl and spun on his heels, returning to the center of the clearing as fast as possible.
Behind him the bush turned dark as a virtual avalanche of furry bodies emerged. Like a wall of oversized lemmings, bears of all sizes and colours emptied out of the woods.
There were nearly fifty of them, all headed directly for Chase’s cabin.
Chapter Nineteen
Evan slammed his hand down on the stack of paperwork. “I’m coming with you, and that’s the end of that.”
Shaun glared back, but the fight wouldn’t last long. “Fine. Go latch down everything in the bird. And don’t blame me if you have to act as a nurse or some shit. I have no idea what I’m flying into.”
“Which is why you want me along.”
Shaun was too busy working through preflight protocol to respond, which was just as well from Evan’s point of view.
It suddenly struck him that having one of the pack with flying abilities opened up all kinds of possibilities. Hmm, maybe after they’d completed this snatch and grab, they should have a long talk about organizing sightseeing tours based out of Whitehorse using Takhini resources rather than Shaun’s old alliances.
Evan had gone up often enough to know what to do as he slipped into the storage space and ensured all the webbing and buckles were latched and secure. Up front, Shaun was flicking switches and swearing at the control tower—nothing unusual, not for Shaun at least.
Salty dog was a mild term for his Beta’s language.
Evan’s cell phone rang.
Shit
. He tucked the phone away without answering. The jaunty tune stopped then picked up again.
He closed the storage compartment door before crawling into the passenger seat, his phone still ringing.
When the ringing finally stopped for the fourth time, he had himself strapped in and was whistling lightly as he stared out the front window.
Shaun coughed.
Evan stared forward, refusing to meet his Beta’s gaze.
“You really that big a wimp you’re not going to answer Caroline’s call?” Shaun asked.
Evan gave him the stink eye. “I’m not scared of her. Just being reasonable. I don’t want her to worry while we’re gone.”
“Oh, because it’ll be so much better when we get back and she greets us and her injured sister on the tarmac. You tell me she’s not going to kick your ass then.”
“Caroline will be completely rational.”
Shaun snorted. “Which is why you’re refusing to take her call.”
“Shut up.”
Evan’s phone went off again and Shaun laughed loudly. It only took Evan a moment to flip the ringer off and set the damn thing to vibrate.
“Shit, you are pussy-whipped. You don’t see me hiding what I’m up to from my mate.”
“You and Gem are still in the honeymoon stage,” Evan growled. “Just wait until she decides you need a little closer chaperoning. We’ll see how you deal at that point.”
A loud blast of pulsing music filled the cabin. Shaun slapped at his hip and pulled out his phone. He eyed it, a huge grin spreading across his face. “It’s Caroline. Think I should answer?”
Evan had the phone out of his friend’s hand, turned off and tucked into a travel bag in three seconds flat.
“Hey, that’s mine.”
“Trust me, you don’t want to answer. I’m saving you from whatever interrogation we don’t have time for right now.” Evan glared harder as something clicked. “Hey, why the hell you got such a sexy song as Caroline’s ring tone anyway?”
Shaun held up a hand for silence as he went through takeoff procedure. Evan slipped on his headset, the thick padding blocking the loud buzz of the overhead propellers. Only moments later they were clear and angling to the north, Shaun expertly manoeuvring them out of Whitehorse airspace and over the Yukon River, headed toward Keno.
Evan had just happened to be in the room when Shaun got the emergency call. No way he was going to let Caroline know Shelley was being medevaced out of the bush until they actually had something to tell. And whether she’d officially joined or not, Shelley was a part of his pack. There was no arguing that point, not in his mind. He wanted to be sure she was okay.
“We got two hours. What do you want to talk about?” Shaun asked.
Evan flicked the mic button to respond. “You mean a serious discussion, or is this going to be another one of those conversations that deteriorates into dissecting the latest pack foible and who got caught doing who?”
His friend grinned and shrugged. “Those can be fun. We could also rate the latest pack pranks.”
“Thank you for reminding me to kick your ass for starting that damn
Top Ten
list at the pack house. Some of the high jinks are hilarious, I’ll give you that, but good grief. Use your bloody brains more.”
“What?” Shaun complained. “It’s all good clean fun.”
“Why does even the good clean fun seem to end up kicking me in the pocket book? It was oh-so-entertaining when Caroline and I had to come to the pound to pay fines for having unregistered animals roaming the streets.”
Shaun held up his middle finger. “That was only one time, dude, and it wasn’t my fault. One of the other guys ordered the dog tags. I didn’t realize he’d actually put
Property of the Moonshine Inn
on them.”
“You were wearing one of the tags, asshole. Read much?”
Shaun grinned at him. “We’ve got a fine life. I mean really, thousand-dollar fines at the pound aside, we got it good.”
It was impossible to stay upset with Shaun. “Life with your mate suits you. Even though I hope someday to see you settled down and acting like a grownup.”
“You sure you want to insult me while we’re flying? There’s another death spiral just waiting to happen. I’ll totally do it.” Shaun shook the control stick and the chopper swayed from side to side.
Evan chuckled. “You’re such a bastard.”
“You love me, you know you do.”
“
Gag
.”
Spending time goofing off with Shaun was so much a part of what he’d come to expect from their friendship. Irrelevant and rowdy as he might be, the Beta was one of the best around. Evan glanced out the window. Life
was
good, other than worrying about Shelley, and considering Caroline and how well she fit into the pack. And didn’t fit in.
It was the weirdest thing. They got along gangbusters in the bedroom. They liked similar movies and had the same taste in twisted jokes. She was as powerful as a woman could be without being a wolf.
And they were…just friends. Like they’d tried to be more and they cared about each other, but then it stopped. He wasn’t sure why. Didn’t think the barrier was because he was “looking for his mate” like most wolves. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason.
Shaun’s voice crackled over the speakers. “I can bloody well hear you sighing without you clicking on your mic. What’s got you moping like a teenager?”
Evan shrugged. “Caroline.”
“
Duuude
.”
There was a world of understanding in Shaun’s single response. Which cracked Evan up.
“You are such a shithead at times.”
“I aim to please. Just, seriously. I get that she’s got a hot bod, and I get that she’s a cool person. I like her, I really do. But you two are the weirdest couple ever.”
“Because she’s human?” Maybe Shaun could help him figure this out.
Shaun made a rude noise. “It’s not that. Hell, we all know human and wolf combinations. Some are mates, some are couples that decided to get together because they fell in love. It’s all good.”
“You are way too sappy now that you and Gem are together, have I mentioned that yet?” Evan growled.
“It’s a mate thing. And…maybe that’s the best I can do. You don’t have to be mates to promise to stick together, but you guys are like the most perfect fuck buddies I’ve ever seen. Friends who fuck.”
“Now you make me sound all mercenary and crude, only doing the girl because she’s hot.”
“Nah, that’s not what I’m saying at all.” Shaun glanced at him quickly. “It’s also as if she’s only doing you because you’re hot.”
Evan nodded. “Guess this just confirms we are one bloody inflammatory couple.”
Shaun didn’t respond for a moment. When he did, all his teasing was gone. “Evan? If someone mentioned to me that Gem was using me, I would bite their fucking head off. It didn’t even register for you, did it? That you and Caroline are good together, but you aren’t together. Period.”
Evan sat and considered Shaun’s evenly delivered message. It was true—the words didn’t sting. Didn’t annoy the hell out of him. It just was. Which was probably the strongest indication how fucked up the entire situation was.