Dark Wolf Running (Bloodrunners) (29 page)

But he suspected that it was really Sebastian who had a sadistic obsession with Elise. Harris, he had a feeling, was just his younger sibling’s lapdog.

“Where’s your brother?” he growled, wondering where the son of a bitch was hiding.

Harris laughed, then jerked his chin toward the Lycan who was stalking from the trees off to Wyatt’s left. Not only was the male massive, his normally slight build bulked with muscle and several inches taller than his actual height, but his change was also further along than it should have been, considering the sun was still sitting low in the sky. His face was still human, but with a short snout distorting his nose and mouth, his ears pointed and tipped back.

What the hell?

At the look of shock on Wyatt’s face, Sebastian’s chest shook with a gritty laugh. “If there was a pill that could make Alice bigger, I thought why not me?”

“You’re not just bigger,” Wyatt growled.

“True,” the Lycan murmured, rubbing his snout as he came closer. “And soon I’ll even have a pill that allows me to completely day-shift. I won’t need all that archaic lore that ol’ Drake had to use. A little pill under my tongue—” he snapped his claw-tipped fingers “—and poof, I’ll be able to do whatever I want. You think your bickering pack will be able to fight us then? You think anyone in the region will back you when they know what they’re going up against?”

“You really think this shit is going to go your way?” he snarled, struggling against his captors.

“Everything goes my way!” Sebastian sneered. “I get everything I want.” A slow, sickening smile tilted the corner of his distorted mouth, and his voice dropped. “You should know that better than anyone.”

Wyatt fought even harder to get free, knowing damn well the son of a bitch was talking about Elise.

“Would you like to know where this came from?” Seb asked him, pulling a scrap of pink fabric from the front pocket of his jeans. “Think of it as a war trophy, the way some of your ancestors were known to take a scalp. This is how Eli managed to track down... Well, you know the story, right?”

“What the fuck is that?” he forced out through his clenched teeth, his chest heaving.

“A piece of the Drake bitch’s pretty little panties.” Sebastian lifted the fabric to his nose to take a deep sniff, then grinned. “The drug we gave her was an early sample. Screwed with her memory but didn’t manage to make her want us. She fought us the entire time, which is why these still smell like sex and blood and pain.”

“You motherfucker!” Wyatt roared, fighting harder to get free, his fangs shooting longer than they’d ever been, desperate for the bastard’s throat.

A husky laugh slipped past Sebastian’s dark lips, and he rubbed the scrap of fabric against the side of his face. “That was how Eli found our friend Danny. Danny and I split this little trophy. I hid mine in a safe place, but Danny went off with his portion in his front pocket, after drenching it in her blood. Idiot wasn’t thinking. When your brother ran across him, he knew the instant he caught the scent of her blood that he’d found one of us.”

Wyatt swallowed, shaking, wishing like hell that he’d been there with Eli that night. That he’d been able to take the asshole’s life with his own hands.

“It was so funny to save your life in the woods the other night, knowing I’d fucked your woman. And you never had a clue,” Seb murmured, enjoying the show he was putting on. Tucking the fabric back into his pocket, he cocked his head a bit to the side, and there was a maniacal light in his eyes as he came a little closer. “That’s the problem with you alphas. You never suspect the betas. But we’ll be the ones to take over the world.”

“Not today you won’t, you little shit.”

Every head turned sharply toward the front steps of the house, where Elise stood, her claw-tipped hands dripping with crimson blood.
Holy shit!
Had she killed the guards who’d been told to stay outside her room? She must have, and Wyatt could only stare in complete and total wonder, his damn eyes wet with tears.

She’d released her claws and fangs, her dark blue gaze burning with rage, glowing in the pale beauty of her face, the fading sunset setting the auburn strands of her hair on fire. She looked so fucking hot he felt his jaw drop and, God, that was a sure sign of how deeply she affected him. Here they were, trapped in this life-and-death situation, surrounded by the enemy, and she was overwhelming him with lust and emotion.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one overcome by the sight of her.

“Hmm. I didn’t think it was possible for you to be any sexier than you were that night, broken and bleeding in the mud. But this look suits you,” Sebastian drawled, his body showing the clear signs of his interest with his bulging jeans. “My old man was always telling me that I shouldn’t fuck my enemies. That it makes things too messy. But you’re an exception, aren’t you? A little snatch like you—you were just made to be fucked.”

“You’re a monster!” she snarled, the graveled words nearly drowned out by Wyatt’s earsplitting roar of fury. The guttural sound was only choked off when one of the Whiteclaw soldiers came up behind him, wrapping his arm around Wyatt’s throat as he struggled.

Stepping closer to the steps where she stood, Sebastian’s shoulders shook as he cackled. “Are you really in a position to cast stones, Miss Drake? After the things your own father did? His blood flows through your veins. Doesn’t that make you a monster, too?”

She watched him through narrow, burning eyes, the blue so bright it was almost blinding. “Yeah, I have his blood,” she rasped. “And I’ll use it to rip you to bloody pieces.”

He laughed even harder. “You couldn’t change then, and you can’t completely change now. And I know why.” He grinned as he moved forward another step, closing the distance between them. “You’re weak and pathetic. A sniveling little bitch who was so easy to break, it was a joke. You should have heard the things Daddy Drake used to say about you. How ashamed he was. No one has ever loved you. No one even cares if you live or die. They just put up with you out of pity.”

Wyatt struggled harder against the bastards holding him, willing her with his eyes not to believe it. Her breathing quickened, and he could see the pounding of her pulse at the base of her throat.

“We never told him we were the ones who used you that night,” Sebastian murmured, his next step bringing him to within a foot of where she stood. “But knowing how your father felt about you, I can’t help but think he would have approved. If we had explained that you were a means to an end, he would have understood. He didn’t think you were any better than a lab rat. If not for your brothers, he probably would have handed you right over, grateful to us for taking you off his hands.”

Rage erupted from her in the form of her hand cracking across Claymore’s muzzled face. But in his hybrid Lycan form, his head barely moved from the blow.

As the sun dipped a little deeper on the horizon, Wyatt’s wolf seethed within his body, desperate to escape and fight for the woman they loved. But there wasn’t going to be enough time. She needed to deal with the bastard
now,
before it was too late.

“Goddamn it, Elise! Fight him!” Wyatt managed to shout, just as the Lycan behind him shifted his hold.

Her chest shuddered as she breathed in violent gusts, tears streaming over her pale cheeks. Then Sebastian motioned for the soldiers to move in on her, and she froze. “You don’t get to touch me,” she told them, the low words thick with fury. “And you sure as hell don’t get to touch him,” she said with more force, cutting her brilliant gaze in Wyatt’s direction. Their gazes locked, a thousand messages and emotions flying across the crackling connection.

And then she went into motion.

From one instant to the next, her eyes bled from blue to a scorching golden-amber, and she became the most perfect killing machine he’d ever seen. He knew, in that moment, that her Dark Wolf had finally risen inside her, determined to protect her from these monsters.

His eyes burned as he watched her take out the Whiteclaw soldiers closest to her, while the others panicked and tried to flee into the forest, seeking an escape from the brutal carnage. She moved so quickly, Wyatt could only see her in a blur of colors. Peaches-and-cream skin, flaming red hair, blood-soaked claws. His mouth gaped with shock when she took out the two behemoths who had been holding his arms, as well as the one who’d held his throat from behind.

He was distantly aware of his friends arriving in the midst of the chaos. Every Runner, with the exception of Carla, was spreading out behind him, along with others. Moving to his feet, he cast a quick glance over the bloodied group, who had obviously had to fight their way into the town, surprised to see Elliot and Max were among them, as well as Mason’s father, Robert. There were even a few pack members who had recently made it clear that they were tired of the divide between the Alley and the town.

Wyatt had called Cian on his way to Hawkley, telling him he was going after Elise. The Runner had promised they wouldn’t be far behind him, but he hadn’t expected them to be able to mobilize so quickly when they’d been scattered in so many different directions.

They were all watching the scene with wide, shocked eyes, same as he was, not knowing what to do...or how to help. Not that she needed any. His woman was kicking ass unlike anything he had ever seen, and Wyatt was so damn proud of her he was nearly choking on it. And then she was suddenly standing before him, no more than a few feet away. She was in her completely human form again—but she was still incredibly strong. Strong enough to trap Sebastian Claymore’s shuddering body in her arms, his back to her front, and her claws held tight against his throat.

Sensing that she needed some time to figure out what she wanted to do with the Lycan, Wyatt gave her a moment as he turned his attention to the others. Brody tossed him a gun, which he tucked into the front of his jeans before looking at Mason. “Did you find Farrow?”

Mason shook his head, his expression grim. “He’s gone missing.”

With a muttered curse on his lips, Wyatt cut his gaze toward Cian, who was holding a struggling Harris Claymore against the front of his body, the Lycan’s arms twisted behind his back, much like Elise was holding Sebastian.

“Found this one trying to run away,” the Irishman murmured, his gray eyes glowing with a cold, deadly fire. “I have a vested interest in ridding the world of slime. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

Cian’s fangs flashed as he released his hold on Harris, blocking the blow the Lycan immediately aimed at his face. With a sibilant hiss of sound, Cian freed the claws on his right hand and drew his arm back. Then he swung, slashing his claws through the air, nearly severing the Lycan’s head from his shoulders. As Harris’s bulky body fell to the ground, Cian lifted his arm and licked the blood from the inside of his wrist, a feral gleam in his glowing eyes. Wyatt cast a quick look over their group, gauging the fresh surge of shock on their faces. They knew Hennessey was an incredible fighter, but they had never seen anything like that. Even Brody, Cian’s partner, looked as if he were struggling to understand how the Irishman had taken his opponent down so easily.

“El?” Wyatt rasped, finally bringing his gaze back to hers. He let her know with his eyes that whatever happened next, it was her call.

She dropped Sebastian’s body at his feet, then stepped back. At his questioning look, she shook her head, her slender throat working as she swallowed. “Can’t. Don’t want to touch him.”

“You sure?” he asked, kneeling down. Satisfaction burned through his veins as he sunk his claws into Sebastian’s groin, the Lycan’s startled hiss of pain nearly making him smile.

She nodded, then dropped to her knees, swaying, her clothes hanging off her pale form in tatters. Cian for once didn’t make a snide comment. He simply shrugged out of his gray flannel shirt and gently placed it around her shoulders. Then Eric came forward and reached for his sister, crushing her against his chest. Seeing that she was safe and surrounded by his friends, Wyatt turned his attention back to the whimpering man he literally had by the balls. Sebastian’s hybrid form had bled back into the fragile shape of the man, his pale skin dotted with sweat. But the look in his eyes was still defiant. Gloating and evil.

“Did you kill Farrow, after he did your dirty work?” Wyatt asked, his voice low and deadly. “Or are you letting him hide behind your skirts? Was he one of the ones who attacked Elise three years ago? I want names, you bastard. All of them.”

“I don’t know anything about Farrow!”

He let his claws sink a little deeper. “I’ll ask you once more, Claymore. You answer truthfully, and I’ll give you a quick death. You fucking lie to me, and I give you my word that we’ll be here all night. Hell, if I have Jillian keep you alive, we could go on for days.”

Sebastian curled his lip and laughed. “You’re not a sadistic torturer.”

Wyatt leaned right into the Lycan’s face. “I love her, you piece of shit. She’s
mine.
Mine to protect. Mine to avenge. I will do whatever needs to be done for her. Without guilt. Without remorse. Without a second thought.” He twisted his claws even deeper, hitting bone. “Still think I won’t deliver on my threat?”

The cockiness in Sebastian’s gaze finally bled away, replaced by a sickening look of fear. “It was me and Harris. And his idiot friend Danny, who was the one who first started cooking up our drugs. He’s the one your brother killed.” He swallowed thickly, closing his eyes. “And then there was my uncle.”

Wyatt snarled. “Roy?”

Seb nodded, then lifted his lashes. Bitterness thickened his words. “We were his first blackmail tape, though he called it insurance for Danny’s benefit. He didn’t fuck her until she’d lost consciousness. But he worked her over rougher than the rest of us. Said she was the sweetest little piece of ass he’d ever had.”

In a violent burst of rage, Wyatt grabbed Sebastian’s head and gave it a violent twist, severing his spinal column and instantly ending his life. “Where’s Roy?” he rasped, looking around at the Whiteclaw soldiers who had started to edge closer to their group as he moved to his full height, leaving Sebastian’s lifeless body lying on the ground. When no one answered him, he roared, “Where the fuck is he?”