Gabe leaped forward, his teeth bared, and ripped the skin off the neck of his first opponent. The wolf squealed before blood splattered all over Gabe’s face. The wolf dropped dead on the ground. The taste of the foul thing in his mouth made Gabe’s stomach turn. He spit out the skin, knowing little could be done about the blood short of jumping into the river. Maybe he’d do that after.
Two wolves pounced on him but they jumped more like puppies than full-fledged wolves. He was really going to have to train them. But not these twelve—now eleven—they were going to die.
But two attacks were better than one. He lunged right, tearing into the stomach of the first wolf. For a second he smelled the pork that the creature must have eaten earlier as it poured out of its now exposed intestines onto the grass.
The second wolf backed up in retreat. Oh well.
He’s practically cowering. His wolf didn’t like fear, didn’t like to smell it, didn’t like how it tasted in his mouth.
There would be no retreat, no letting him go. Kendrick said kill. Gabriel loved to obey.
He ripped the throat out of the scared wolf before turning to the next crowd of opponents.
One by one Gabriel ended the lives of the wolves his father wanted dead. At some point his father started to laugh. He had no idea what was so amusing, but he always preferred to keep his Alpha happy rather than upset.
When he finished, he took a breath looking at what he’d done. The nasty things were all gone. His father’s wishes had been fulfilled. He turned to his father, calling the shift onto himself to change back into his human shape. His body cracked and pulled onto itself until his wolf vanished within him.
He rubbed his forehead. “How was that?”
His father grinned. “Magnificent.”
“Do you really think those things can be trained? They’re pretty pathetic.” Drea disappeared in the way Gabriel wasn’t certain he would ever get used to seeing. A few seconds later she reappeared holding out some clothes.
“Put these on. I don’t want to look at you naked.”
Kendrick laughed, patting Gabriel on the shoulder while he dressed. “She’s not a wolf. We can cut her some slack. Can’t we, son?”
“I suppose.” Drea the witch didn’t bother him one way or the other. Only Kendrick mattered. “I’m sorry, my Alpha. You didn’t answer my question.”
“Do I think they can be trained? Yes, I’ve been able to do a little. Some of the people I employ have been able to get great results from them. But you, no one has ever been able to train wolf troops like you. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Then I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t.” Kendrick nodded toward the house. “Why don’t you go rest for a while? When you get up you can work with the wolves again. I don’t want to wait and let Tristan have time to get ready for us.”
“As you wish.”
He walked toward his father’s home listening to Kendrick and Drea speak behind him. Their words didn’t make sense and he couldn’t focus on why that was.
“It’s good that you sent him to rest. It’ll let the curse settle back down.”
His father whistled. “This is better than I ever could have imagined. You are a genius.”
“I know.” Gabe hated the sound of Drea’s voice. “Do you think you should have let the girl go? Won’t she be a risk for us now?”
“No.” Kendrick moved farther away, his voice fading. Gabriel only caught one last remark before he could hear no more. “If Carrie makes the mistake of speaking about any of this to Tristan, he will kill her. In fact, if she steps onto Westervelt she’ll likely not live another minute. They’re going to call her traitor the same way they’ll label him.”
Who were they talking about? Should he know?
Do we know any women that would get killed by Tristan? He took the steps two at a time while waiting for his wolf’s reply.
I have no idea who that is. I still have blood all over me.
Gabriel shrugged. Who cared? It was just blood.
Chapter 10
“Are you sure you want to go there?” The boatman pointed to the island up ahead. “Strange things happen over there. My personal opinion is that the island houses some kind of cult.”
If only. She sighed. More like an island of death.
Not always. And you know better than that. Her wolf growled.
“Yes.” She held the wad of cash up in her hand and handed it to the captain. He was a fisherman. She couldn’t blame him for being terrified of Westervelt. Any sane person would be. But his poverty won over his good sense and he took the money from her palm. Like the jacket she wore to cover up her clothes, she’d stolen his payment several hours earlier in a truck stop in New Jersey.
The poor woman had gone to the bathroom and left her coat and purse at her chair. Foolish, but perhaps she’d thought her husband would watch them. When he’d been too busy checking out the waitress’ tits, Carrie had made her move.
Her skin itched at having stolen from those people. But what choice did she have? To get back to Westervelt, penniless and freezing in her human skin would be akin to sprouting wings and galloping with unicorns. Wasn’t going to happen to her.
Hitchhiking had gotten her as far as New Jersey. Theft and wit would have to take her the rest of the way.
“You’re sure because—”
She interrupted the captain. “Can you or can you not get me there?”
“I can.”
Nodding, she stepped forward onto his boat. Small drops of rain hit her on her shoulders, seeming to go out of their way to miss her face. She stopped moving when she reached the left side of the boat. Without a doubt, there was a word to describe where she stood on the boat. Something like starboard. But as she’d always preferred land to water she had no idea what to call her location. If the ship’s captain called out turn aft or some such thing she’d be clueless.
Raising her face to the sky, she let the wind and the rain slam her raw skin. Pain meant life. She had to keep remembering that. If she stopped hurting, she’d be dead and that would mean she failed Gabriel. After all the years they’d suffered apart, losing this battle was the one thing she could not abide.
“Don’t you want to come inside? It’s freezing here.”
She’d long passed the point of freezing. If the weather had been warm with cool breezes in Pennsylvania, Maine had yet to realize winter had left.
“I’m fine.” She remembered her manners. “Thanks.”
The boat began to float on top of the waves toward the island. She rubbed her nose. It didn’t look the same. There were buildings that hadn’t been there before and what looked like wreckage of some kind where their main house used to sit.
She called over her shoulder. “Was there some kind of fire?”
The ship’s captain laughed. “More than one. I told you this place isn’t good. I’d be happy to turn around. I’ll give you your money back too.”
Carrie smiled. Apparently nice people still did live in the world. “Thank you for your concern. I mean it. I wish I could turn back, and I appreciate you worrying about me.”
Make sure he gets out of here fast. I don’t want him hurt in the frenzy that is about to occur.
So you don’t think there’s any chance this is going to go well? She leaned against the railing and looked down at the white-capped water of the pissed-off Atlantic Ocean. It matched her mood.
Her wolf laughed. Not a chance. Considering no one there will know who you are.
Carrie could always appreciate the fact that her wolf spoke the truth to her. Even when the things she said were hard to hear.
All of these years we’ve been suffering. Hanging out in cold places, living off Kendrick’s whims, and now we’re going home. Without our mate. Where none of the souls we spent decades with will have any idea who we are.
Still, even with all the cold weather, with the lack of family to return to—hers had all perished, from what Kendrick had told her, from the
curse—she’d wanted to believe she could have some kind of homecoming. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of the woods on the east side of the island.
How many years had she spent running through them? This was why they fought for this land. All magic aside, Westervelt was home to their pack. It sheltered them, protected them, and Kendrick wanted it back. Resolve surged up her back. For years, she’d just wished Tristan would move the damn pack somewhere else and let Kendrick have the island.
How could she have forgotten how much she loved it?
The boat docked on the island. Her captain would think they were alone, but she could smell the wolves in the distance. They watched the boat approach. If she could scent them, they would know that she held wolf blood as well.
They’d wait until the human traveled enough distance away before they pounced. She sniffed again. It had been a while but at least one of those scents belonged to Theo Kane. She’d trained with him. You didn’t forget what it smelled like to be next to that much power on a daily basis.
Tristan had to be a different kind of Alpha, but that didn’t mean execution had been taken off the table when a human found out too much about their lives.
She turned to smile at the fisherman. “Leave as fast as you can. Do you understand? Don’t turn around. No matter what.”
He nodded. “Do you need any help getting off onto dry land?”
“You’re a full-service boat, aren’t you?” She shook her head. “No, thank you. I have great balance.”
In two steps she leaped over the side and onto the dock. If her transporter thought this odd he had the good sense to not make a sound as he pulled his boat away from the dock, leaving Westervelt behind.
She stood completely still, breathing in and out through her nose. Twelve wolves. Wow. Considering how low she’d heard their numbers were the fact that they wasted twelve wolves on her meant they really weren’t fooling around.
“Okay.” She called out into the night. “I can shift and we can fight. Believe me, my wolf wants it, Theo. Or you can take me to Tristan.”
A laugh sounded out from the woods in front of her. Theo Kane, looking nearly the way she remembered him except for a few gray hairs on his nearly shaved head, stepped out into the clearing. Behind him stood eleven other wolves. One of them was female; the other ten she knew quite well. A lump formed in her throat and she shoved it away with sheer force over her emotions. She’d never been a crier. She wouldn’t start now.
“You have me at a disadvantage, lady.” Theo put his hands on his hips. “Or maybe not. You’re one wolf. We have twelve. So, disadvantage isn’t the right word because we would kill you in a fight. I guess it would be more appropriate to say you have me stumped. You know me but I don’t know you.”
“That’s unfortunate. I think I’ve secretly been hoping that the second you saw me the spell preventing you from remembering me would float away and our years of training together would come rushing back to you.”
Theo growled, his wolf showing in his eyes. “I’m not falling for that crap. You go back to Kendrick, who I smell all over you, and you tell him that he isn’t getting near Tristan, no matter how much he preps his Trojan horse with the right things to say.”
“I wish it were that simple and I hate that I smell anything like him. But living in one of his facilities for forty years will do that to a girl.” Their conversation had headed in a direction she didn’t yet want to go. At least not with Theo. Somehow, some way, she had to get to Tristan. “I see that you’re mated. The gray looks good on you. Feeling old?”
“You’d better get to your point.” He cocked his head. Theo’s wolf wasn’t going anywhere. She’d be dead soon if she didn’t make him believe her.
“I’m Gabriel’s mate. I have been for forty years. You don’t remember me because that’s what your father wanted. I haven’t aged like I should have because of the spell he put on us. I’ve been stuck with him and Gabe’s been going slowly crazy ever since.”
Theo opened and closed his mouth. Aha. So she’d hit on something. Gabriel’s behavior had been noticeable.
“I know where he is. Kendrick has him. He’s done another spell. Well, Drea, his bitch-witch, did it and if we don’t do something soon Gabriel is going to lead Kendrick’s creatures here and fight all of you. So I know you don’t know me but if you’re the Theo I knew so long ago then you will take this to Tristan. You’ll find out. Do I smell like I’m lying to you?”
The woman Carrie didn’t know stepped next to Theo. “She doesn’t smell like a liar. If she wanted to trick us, she wouldn’t have arrived like that by boat.”
“I don’t trust anyone.” He rubbed her arm. “You know that.”
“And it keeps us alive.” The woman must be his mate. Carrie’s heart turned over looking at them. Theo had found someone and Carrie didn’t know her. In another world, could she and Gabriel have been like that? Could they have fought side by side?
“But you’re right. We need to hear what she says. Tristan will be upset if he doesn’t get a chance to question her.” Theo waved his hand behind him. “Malcolm, you take her. If she gives you any trouble, kill her.”
Malcolm had been a child when she’d left. Hell, she had known his mother. When his father had shown up with a human, speculation had abounded that they would leave Westervelt to live in the human world. But, that hadn’t happened. Carrie had missed watching him grow up to become a very tall, scowling wolf.
“You look like your mother with your father’s height.”
Malcolm grunted at her, but she saw a flash of uncertainty in his eyes for a second before he grabbed her arm.
“You’re with me.”
She growled and felt her own wolf display in her pupils. The dryness that always accompanied that event made her want to scratch out her eyeballs. “The name is Carrie. Once upon a time, you called me Miss Carrie. And if you’re going to haul me around, you can be gentle about it or I’ll rip out your throat. Got it?”
Malcolm laughed. “Whatever you are, you’re amusing.”
Theo walked to her other side with his mate coming up behind her. Smart moves. They were flanking her so if she got away from Malcolm they could take her down.
The trees around them were broken. Branches were strewn everywhere and some of them appeared to have been burned. The fisherman had told her about the fire, and the damage must have been truly extensive. Had they lost people? What had started it?
Who do you think? I have no doubt it’s your father-in-law.
The odds were that her wolf spoke correctly. Who else would burn Westervelt? She would never put it past the psycho to scorch the place he hoped to conquer.
“It looks so different from the last time I saw it.”
Theo hissed. “Quiet. You’ll get your chance to speak later.”
The woman with him disregarded his instructions. “When was the last time you were here?”
“Faith…” Theo tried to hush her.
She raised her hand, silencing him. Carrie raised an eyebrow. The powerful Theo Kane had a good amount of respect for his mate. She couldn’t be surprised. The gods seemed to know what each wolf needed in their partner.
“I want to hear what she has to say. I’ll be able to tell.”
Carrie trudged through the mud. “Ah. I see. You’re powerful. Your wolf magic tells you if I’m lying.”
“Yes.” The woman—Faith, who had a beautiful mane of thick brown hair running down her back—stopped moving and grabbed Carrie’s arm. “Please answer my question.”
“I was here forty years ago. On that night. After a series of events, all of which are a terrible blur, I was forced out with Kendrick to spend the next four decades living in hell.”
Theo snorted. “Convenient.”
“She’s not lying.” Faith started walking again and Malcolm pulled Carrie along to catch up. “At the very least she believes what she says.”
“There could be any number of reasons for that, my love.” Th
eo shook his head and for the first time Carrie noticed scars on his face. In the distance, they’d not been obvious and even standing close to him she could see they’d faded. But to have permanently scarred a wolf shifter? Something had nearly ended Theo’s life.
Did they not have a healer who could work on him? What did the females they’d mated have in terms of magical powers?
“There.” Theo pointed at a small collection of huts. “Tristan is in there. And if you’re lying to me or if you make any moves that I don’t like toward my Alpha, it’ll be the place where I bury you.”
“You could kill me, Theo. I’m a strong female. I fight well, always have. But if you end me, Gabriel dies. Just so you keep that in mind.”
Chapter 11
Carrie stood looking at Tristan Kane. She’d not seen him in forty years and somehow she suspected that if he knew she thought of him as Gabe’s little brother who still hadn’t found his way in the pack, he’d object to such a description.
She had to readjust her expectations immediately. There was nothing about Tristan Kane that didn’t scream Alpha. His eyes stayed permanently wolf and although he appeared exactly the same age and always would, for at least as long as he remained Alpha, his gaze held a worldliness she’d never seen in him before
Gods, once upon a time I wanted to sleep with him.
Her wolf laughed. That was before Gabriel. And if Tristan had ever really been interested you’d have run for the hills. No one compared to our beloved. Ever.
Her gaze shifted to the person she’d avoided looking at since she’d entered the room. To the right of Tristan stood his mate, staring at her with as much concentration as the Alpha.
Carrie tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “You have Victoria’s eyes.”
Tristan’s mate flinched like she’d been struck. “You claim to have known her?”
“I knew her quite well. My best friend on Westervelt. I never did get to say good-bye. I’m so glad she went on to live a happy life.”
“Summer looks much more her equal than me. But, yes, you’re right. I have her eyes. You’ve either been coached to know that or somehow you know everyone here even as none of us know you.”