Pride's Pursuit (a Wolf's Pride novel, book three) (8 page)

“There’s no time.We have to get out of here.”
I breathe deep and my ears perk, listening for the sound of an approaching task force.
Taking me by surprise, my father grabs a fistful of the man’s collar and picks him up off the
floor. The man’s legs dangle beneath him, and I seemy father’s sheer strength, that of a full
grown wolf, long into his power.
He bares sharp fangs in warning and wets his bottom lip as he zeroes in on the man’s throat,
a reminder to the officer that he could end his life before his next heartbeat.
“If I find out this is a trap andthat you’re leading us somewhere you’ll wish I had killed
you here and now,” he warns.“Because, believe me,if you’re working against us your death
will be slow and painful.You have my word on that.” I reach up and touch my father’s arm and
when I do his muscles bunch beneath my fingers. His back straightens and he adds, “If it wasn’t
for my daughter, you’d be dead already.”
With that he lets the man go and in a heap of exhaustion, my father drops down beside me. I
look closer and note the deepening of the lines around his eyes.That’s when I see how much
that burst of energy, a show of former power, cost him.
The girl whimpers, and my stomach revolts when I look at her, the sight of her stuffed in
that small cage tormenting my soul and enraging my wolf. Remaining in a crouched position I
move away for the others. On my hands and knees I crawl across the scarred and dented floor,
talking slowly, calmly, in the same soothing manner Logan once used with Nova.
“It’s okay.I’m not going to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you anymore.”
She sniffs, her big brown eyes watching me timidly, unsure, terrified.
Anger, fear, but mainly disgust creeps into my tone when I think about the men—these so
called humans—that did this to her.
“Are you hurt?” I ask.
She wipes her nose with the back of her hand and gives a quick shake of her head. But then
her nervous glance flutters to the officer.
I narrow my eyes, my throat tight with emotions.“Did hehurt you?”
“No,” she says softly and when she speaks I realize how young she is. Where is her family?
Her pack?“It…it was others like him,” she whispers, and by others I know she means PTF
officers.
I grab the lock to examine it and feel a burst of red as anger ambushes me. After a quick tug
I realize it’s going to take a lot more strength than I have to break it.
“What’s your name?”
“Blaze,” she answers in a voice so low I have to strain to hear it.
“Hang tight, Blaze,” I say softly.“I’m going to get you out of here.”
I look around for something to jimmy the lock with, but Logan crawls in beside me and
with one quick yank he tears the bolt clear from the metal cage.
An invisible band squeezes my heart as we exchange a private look but no words need to be
said for him to know whatI’m thinking, what I’m feeling.
Eyes guarded and uncertain, the girl crawls from the cage, andthe second she’s free from
her tiny prison Logan and I help her to her feet. When her knees falter, her legs not quite steady
after being confined for so long, Logan slips his arm around her waist to support her.
I turn to see the others, but when I search for Stone and my glance comes up empty, my
heart lurches, blind panic filling me. When it occurs with dawning horrorwhere he’s gone and
what he’s about to do, air leaves my lungs in a rush. Despite what Nova did, despite how she set
me up to die at the hands of the PTF, I don’t want Stone hunting her.I don’t want to be
responsible for any more deaths than I already am.
A loud howl full of distress crawls out of my throat and I rip at my shirt, needing in the
most desperate way to find him before the hunters catch him in their crosshairs. If he comes up
against one, I know what will happen.
I knowwhat he’ll do.
Returning to fight mode, my canines sharpen and somewhere in the distance I hear the
others yelling at me, their voices echoing ominously in my head. Pain shivers through my
nerves and I ignore their protests as my bones prepare to shift and slide into place.
“Pride, no,” Logan says and it occurs to me that I’ve never seen his face so serious, never
heard his voice so harsh when speaking to me.
As I drop to all fours, eager to shift, he moves in front of me to block my path and when I
give a savage shake of my head, a warning that he’s not to stand in my way, I can hear the
officer and my father exchanging dire words.
I turn to glare at them and that’s when the officer looks at me pointedly and challenges with
an unwavering stare, “If you go, you won’t make it back. These aren’t the kind of men you can
reason with.”
“He’s right, Pride,” my father says darting an anxious glance my way.“We need to get out
of here. Now.”
When the full weight of their words cut through the chaos in my brain, panic invades my
stomach and my pulse skyrockets.
“I can’t leave Stone out there.He’s in kill or be killed mode.” While I know he’s smart, I
also know his survival instincts are strong, and he’ll do whatever it takes to survive.
Whatever it takes to protect me.
And that could very well lead to his death.
The officer doesn’t even try to soften the blow when he announces, “Then he’s as good as
dead already.And there isn’t anything you can do to help him.”
As a fresh wave of silence evvelops the cabin, my heart beats faster, confusion and anger
hitting at the same time.Do they really think I’m going to leave Stone to his own fate?
With my stomach twisting and churning, my mind races, refusing to turn my back on the
boy who would die for me. My wolf prepares, orchestrating her next move, because she knows
what wehave to do, and she knows I’m not about to let anyone stop me.
“I’ll go,” Logan says, his eyes glistening pewter fire as they meet mine. Before I can even
digest what he’s saying, he’s moving with purpose. Using predatory precision, he pounces out
the door and amoment later he’s airborne. Without breaking stride, he leaves a pile of clothes in
his wake, his body shifting and morphing into a powerful, streamlined wolf.
“Meet me at the vehicle,” is the last thing he says before he completes his shift and gets
swallowed by the dark, dangerous night.

After hurrying back to the vehicle, everyone climbs inside, but I’m too antsy, too
frantic to
sit still. With a pile of clothes in my hands, I pace the dark forest, my ears perked for sound, my
wolf ready to take chase should she need to.

I scour the dark woods and worry about
Logan and Stone’s safety. There is nothing I can do
to keep my anxious mind from conjuring up deadly scenarios, dangerous situations the two
could easily find themselves in. As I fret and my imagination kicks into high gear, I hear the
SUV door click open.

“It’s okay, Pride,”
my father says in a hushed voice as he steps up to me.“Logan knows
what he’s doing.”
Even though I know Logan is a powerful, skilled alpha, one who knows his way around the
woods, my father’s words still fail to comfort me.
I flick him a glance.“Stone doesn’t. He’s reacting.”
While I know it’s not his fault, that he’s only doing what he believes he has to, I also know
if he’s going to survive out here, he has to start evolving, adapting to the way things are done in
the outside world.
Over the last month, Logan taught me all about survival, and after tonight I realizeit’s now
my turn to step up and teach Stone. Before he gets himself killed. Before he proves to the PTF
that we really are bloodthirsty beasts ruled only by our survival instincts.
In the far distance a shot rings out and the little bit of food I have left in my stomach clumps
together to form a heavy ball. Anxious and on edge, I wring Logan’s shirt with my fists and
while I listen to the bullet whisper through the wind, I also listen for the sound of a fallen wolf.
“I should have gone after him.” My feet crunch dead leaves as I hug the pile of clothes to
my chest, and when I spot a rabbit dart into the underbrush, it’s all I can do to keep my agitated
wolf from taking chase.
I catch another sound in the near vicinity, and I brace myself, my ears perked as both my
father and I stop to listen. With our wolves on guard, prepared to attack, I scent the forest,
pushing past the pine, moss and moist earth as I peer into the thick woods.
When I hear branches move and leaves rustle, I growl and hunker low. A moment later,
when two very distinctive scents hit at the same time, I nearly sob with relief. I sprint to my feet
and the second I spot the battle worn wolves emerging from the dark, I rush to them.
They step into the clearing and I hurry forward to examine them for injuries. A breeze
flutters their thick coats and the chill in my bones runs so deep that when they both brush up
against me, I take a quick moment to soak in the warmth of their fur.
Logan is the first to shift and we exchange a look as I hand him his clothes. He dresses and
I turn my attention to Stone. The second I see a sticky layer of blood coating his thick fur, I
gasp, and wonder if it’s his or Nova’s.
“Stone?” I ask, my eyes moving over his face as I feel a quick flash of panic.
“He got caught in a thorn bush,” Logan says, answering my unasked question.
I glance at Logan.“And Nova?”
Logan turns away from me, like he can’t bear to meet my eyes when he says, “She’s gone.”
I swallow.“Gone?”
“She got away,” he clarifies as Stone morphs and stands to his full height, his angry eyes
softening when they land on me.
I hand Stone his clothes and when another gunshot rings out, deep in the forest, I cringe.
Instinctively, the alpha wolf steps closer to me, as if to shield me from the danger.
I blink up at him and feel a measure of panic.“Do you think…?”
When he gives an uncertain shrug, I turn to Logan. He jams his hands into his pockets, and
my eyes track the deep scars on his chest, scars inflicted by my former master. Scars inflicted
because of me.
“Logan?”
I don’t miss the hitch in his voice when he says, “I’m not sure we’ll ever know.”
I think about the girl he grew up with and know none of this can be easy on him.“Logan,
I’m sorry.”
He looks at me, his nostrils flaring and I see real sadness in his eyes. He almost feels a little
distant when he says,“I’m the one who’s sorry, Pride.”
“We need to move,” Stone announces, breaking the moment as he brushes up against me to
pass, his knuckles scraping along my body in such a familiar way.
When I feel his tension, I turn to him and while I know he’s hurting, I ask the question
anyway, “Are you okay?”
He nods and continues toward the SUV. He growls at the officer sitting in the front
passenger seat before climbing into the far back of the vehicle to sit next to me.
Once we’re all inside, Stone’s hand closes over mine, his touch conveying without words
what he’s feeling, what he needs. My pulse races and I don’t say anything in return. Instead, I let
him hold me and breathe in his anxiety as I listen to his heart pound in his chest.
Staring out the side window, I watch the black pavement fly by and when I think about how
badly things could have gone down, how close I came to losing the boy clutching my hand like
it’s his lifeline, I try not to cry.
With my breath coming in shallow pants and my body trembling almost uncontrollably, I
look for a distraction, something, anything to keep me from breaking down in front of the
others. Knowing I need to be strong for them, I turn my attention to the vehicles zinging by on
the highway and focus on the hum of the wheels as my father negotiates the SUV along the
winding road.
I have no idea where we’re going, or where he’s taking us, but I can’t seem to ask, can’t
seem to get the words past the knot in my throat.
After a half hour of driving, he pulls the vehicle off the side of the road, slams on the
brakes, and shoves the gear shift into park. The turn is so abrupt, I jostle to the side and fall
against Stone, and he squeezes my hand in reassurance.
“What’s going on?” I ask, and try to figure out why my father suddenly stopped in the
middle of nowhere.
I watch him exchange a deadly look with both Logan and Stone in the rearview mirror, and
when the scent of his rage pollutes the interior of the vehicle, my wolf yelps.Stone’s eyes
darken to a dangerous shade of silver as my father climbs from the SUV, crosses in front of it,
and practically tears the passenger door clear off its hinges.
The officer, as if expecting this turn of events, puts his hands up palms out.“Okay, okay,”
he says, the panic he’s feel apparent in his tone. “Take it e
asy. I said I’d tell you everything I
know.”
He slides from the seat. When my father slams the door with a resounding thud, I bolt
forward and climb over Gem, Sandy and Blaze as they watch the action unfold.Fearing he’s
about to assassinate the man out here where his body will never be found, I jump from the
vehicle.
Without looking behind me I know both Stone and Logan are tight on my heels. Loose
gravel crunches beneath my boots as I hurry toward the trees fringing the highway.
Leaving the vehicle on the side of the road, keys still in the ignition, my father backs the
officer up until they’re shrouded by foliage.
Once he has him in the shadows, he says, “We’re not going any farther, not until you
answer myquestions.”
With a common goal in mind, Logan and Stone instinctively begin to work together. They
flank the officer while my father proceeds with a pat-down. When he finds no tracking devices,
or a second gun, he stands up and folds his arms across his chest.
“First,” he says, a new hardness in his tone as his lips peel back. As I watch him, I can feel
my own gums tighten in response.“Who are you?”
I don’t miss the worry in the officer’s voice when he answers with, “The name is Mike
Sanford.”
“Okay, Sanford, you say you’re not involved, why then, were you in a PTF hideout with a
caged wolf?”
“Call off your dogs first.” he says, his nervous glance going back and forth between Stone
and Logan.“Then I’ll tell you everything.”
My father’s laugh is humorless as he pins him with a glare.“I don’t think you’re in any
position to be making demands.”
“Listen—”
“No, you listen.You spared my daughter’s life,which is the only reason you’re still alive,
but if I find out you’re part of the team hunting for sport, those two,” he says, stopping to nod
toward the deadly shifters baring their fangs, “are going to make sure you disappear.”
“I’m not part of the team. I’m not a part of any team.” He looks at me before adding, “Not
anymore.”
I step up to him and tilt my chin until our eyes meet.“What do you mean, not anymore?”
“I know you’re not a monster, Pride. You opened my eyes to that.” He stops to rake shaky
hands through his short hair.“Which is why I assembled a new team after our encounter at the
Canadian border. But when headquarters found out, they made a visit to our branch. I tried to
explain to them that not all wolves are bloodthirsty animals and that perhaps we needed to
change tactics.”
“And?”
“And they determined that I was growing soft. They disassembled my team and kicked me
offthe force.”
A shiver turns my blood to ice and when I exhale, my breath fogs in front of my face.
“You’re working alone then?”
“I’m working alone, but it’s not what you think.”
“Tell me what I think.”
“Let me just tell you what I know.” He pauses, but when I say nothing he continues.“I went
there to stop them from killing that girl. You were the last person I expected to find in the safe
house.”
“I never expected to find you there either.”
He looks confused for a moment then asks, “How did you find out about the hideout,
anyway?”
I think about Nova and the uglybullet wound that didn’t kill her. I realize it had all been for
show. That the officers had let her live so she could deliver me to them. I keep this to myself.
Sanforddoesn’t need to know, not yet, maybe not ever, of Nova’s deception.
“Why did they want me?” I ask, speaking over the loud hum of the cars flying by on the
freeway.
His brow furrows, and his laugh is rough, almost maniacal, as it serrates the night and curls
around me.“Think about it, Pride. You’re the one who got away. And no one ever gets away.”
“So they wanted to hunt me then? For sport?”
“Yes.”
“And they forced Nova to lead me to them?”
“She wasn’t forced,” Stone says, his angry voice raking down my spine like a jagged-edged
knife.
My gaze jerks to his and Ican tell he’s in fight mode. “What are you talking about?”
“She wanted you out of the way.”
As I consider that possibility, my glance goes to Logan, and I watch his chest rise and fall
while he fists his hands at his sides until his knuckles whiten.
I stare at him for a moment and when the pieces fall into place my vision goes a little fuzzy
around the edges. It takes effort to speak when I say,“You were supposed to be her mate.”
“It wasn’t like that between us,” he answers through clenched teeth.
“Maybe someone should have told that to her.” Rage erupts inside me when I think about
the senselessness of all this. None of this should have happened and now Nova is out there all
alone, and we have no idea if she’s dead or alive.
I think about the caged girl, and jerk my thumb toward the SUV.“Who is she?”
He shakes his head.“I don’t know.”
“Why would they hunt someone so young?”
“A wolf is a wolf in their eyes. Age doesn’t matter, and the young ones are usually faster.”
“Do you have any idea who she is?” I ask Logan, wondering if he might recognize her from
any of the packs he knows. Perhaps she comes from Richmond’s Village in the Jasper
Mountains Nova once mentioned.
When he shakes his head no, I wonder where her family is, or if she could have spent her
life imprisoned by a cruel drug lord, like Stone, Sandy and me.
I turn to my father, “Do you think she’s—”
“It’s possible.”
That has me thinking about my last conversation with the officer, when he assured me they
were going to search the known drug lord compounds.“Has anything been done about the
imprisoned wolves?”
“Yes, but not by us.”
Unease crawls along my flesh and I wrap my arms around myself.“Panthers?”
He nods.“We can track them, but they’re not so easy to kill.”
“That’s because they’re cats and they have nine lives,” Logan elaborates. “Their
regenerative abilities are quicker than ours, and silver doesn’t kill them.”
“Nine bullets will do the trick, but they usually get away before you can pump all nine in.
They’re fast, Pride.”
“We’re faster and stronger,” Stone announces and I don’t miss the way he angles his head
to see Logan before he adds, “And there isn’t an animal out there that can survive a ripped
jugular.”
As I think about wolves versus panthers, I swallow and push the next words past my lips.
“We had a pack of wolves with us when we escaped from the compound. They were ambushed,
and ran, but have yet to show up.Do you know if they’re—?”
“We don’t have them. We never did.”
“Then there’s a chance they’re still out there.”
“Maybe,” he says, a brief hint of skepticism flashing in his eyes.“But if they are, I can help
you find them.”
“How?”
“I still have all my equipment, including my radio transponder.”
Since I’m not a girl who trusts easily, I narrow my eyes and gauge his reaction when I ask,
“Why would the force allow you to keep your equipment?”
“They didn’t.I stole it.”
“And they’re not coming after you for it?”
“I’m not a threat to them. They think I’ve gone soft.”
“Which gives you the advantage,” I say.
“It gives us the advantage,” he clarifies, letting me know he wants to work with us in the
war against wolves. I mull that over for a minute longer and realize that under the circumstances
I know I have no choice but to let him into my small circle. It might be the only way we can find
the others.
When a vehicle slows on the highway, I stiffen and shoot a nervous glance at my team.
“We’re drawing attention.”
“Okay,” my father says as he steps back, “We need to get out of here.”
With that we all retrace our steps back to the vehicle, but my father slows and waits for me
to catch up to him. He has a strange, nervous energy about him, and it makes me antsy.
I glance up at him.“What?” I ask.
“We need to hunker down for the night.”
“Where do you suggest we go?”
His mouth turns down in a frown, and he kicks at the gravel beneath our feet almost
apologetically.“There is only one place we can go.”
I look at him, but I’m not sure what he’s suggesting.
He touches my arm to still me as everyone else climbs inside the SUV.“Pride,” he begins
his voice full of remorse and when I see the lines around his mouth tightening, I know in an
instant where he’s taking us. I stiffen and shake my head.
“I don’t think—”
“We need sleep.” His glance flickers to the inside of the vehicle and he knows he’s hitting a
sore spot with me when he adds, “They need somewhere to go and Sandy doesn’t look well.”
I angle my head to see the young girl and when I do, my stomach tightens.I know she’s
seen a lot, been through a lot, but I thought once I got her away from the master and gave her a
taste of freedom, it would help her heal. Maybe this new world and all the threats in it are too
much for her to handle in her condition.