Alpha Pack 4 - Hunters Heart (28 page)

you ever see him?”

“Not often. We call once in a while, send Christmas

cards. I really should make more of an effort since the man

helped raise me, but we were never all that close. What

about your dad? Your father must be a special man.”

“He’s the best. When he retired from studying wolves, I

couldn’t wait to take over where he left off. We’re very

close, but we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d

like.”

“After we’ve put Ben to rights, we’ll visit him.”
If we

aren’t forced to destroy Ben first
went unsaid.

Daria gave him a wan smile. “I’d like that, and so

would Dad.”

Neither of them felt much like talking after that. In

silence, they cleaned their bowls and utensils with leaves,

which they buried to avoid attracting unwanted nighttime

guests. With nothing else to do, they readied themselves to

bed down. Daria changed into a pair of shorts, muttering

that it was too hot to sleep in her pants.

Ryon tried not to stare as she emerged, and failed. Her

long legs were slender, toned, and tanned. He could

imagine them wrapped around his waist while he pounded

into her with precision. He never tired of fucking her. Not

tonight, though. They needed rest.

“God, I wish I could risk even one ounce of our water

supply to wash off.” She spared a longing glance for the

canteen next to her pack.

“I’ll try to find us a safe place tomorrow. With any luck,

we’ll run into one of the tributaries branching off of the

river.”

“Ohh, that would be
fantastic
.”

Idiot! Had he lost his mind? Facing a firing squad

would be less torture than guarding Daria while she

bathed. They’d never reach his team if he banged her all

the way across the forest.

They settled into the shelter, lying on their backs,

neither one speaking. The quiet between them was

companionable.

If only he could silence the chaos in his mind so easily.

If he had to kill Ben, she would hate him forever.

You don’t know for sure! She’d forgive you. Right?

Ryon couldn’t handle the truth. Not now. He shoved it

away, but it loomed. As deadly as the coral snake, waiting

to strike, to poison his blood. His soul.

Damn you, Ben Cantrell.
He slid into fitful dreams, the

echo of Cantrell’s screams winging him into the darkness.

• • •

Ryon surfaced by slow degrees. He couldn’t move.

Pressure on his legs, his chest. The waking dream collided

with his nightmare. He called out.

Daria? No!

But the cry reverberated only in his mind. His lips

wouldn’t move.

Where was his mate? Trapped. Blood. Soaking his

clothes, his hair. Drowning in a crimson river.

Ryon!

Forgive me, forgive me . . .

“Ryon!”

He came awake with a jolt and the nightmare broke

apart, the tendrils of unspeakable terror receding into the

gloom. The pressure on his body remained, and he

realized that someone was half draped across him. A hand

was clamped over his mouth.

“Shh,” Daria whispered, urgent.

Ryon tensed, listening. Nothing at first, and then . . . The

distant call of a night bird to the north, and an answering

call to the west. The rest of the forest had gone unnaturally

still. A chill of fear zinged down his spine. Christ, August

had his goons searching for them before dawn!

They were so close his wolf could practically smell

them. Waiting. Footsteps crept through the brush around

them, so furtive the slight movements might never have

awakened him. Sweat streamed down the sides of his face.

Daria removed her hand from his mouth but remained

motionless on top of him, breasts crushed against his chest

through the fabric of their T-shirts. The thundering of her

heart matched his own.

Ryon stretched out an arm and felt for his M16. His

fingers found the stock and closed around it, but the

weapon’s presence gave him little relief. They were

sitting ducks. If their hideout was discovered, he’d take

out as many of them as he could, but he’d be firing blind.

No doubt, they were well equipped with night vision

goggles, and his pair was stowed in his pack. He didn’t

dare risk making noise by digging for them.

The footsteps receded and the calls faded, melting into

the returning blurbs and shrieks of the forest’s nocturnal

inhabitants. Long, agonizing minutes inched by, became an

hour. Finally, Daria slid off him, slow and careful. When

the first gray streaks of dawn began to lighten their view,

Ryon put a finger to his lips and motioned his intent to take

a look around.

Daria gave a small nod and mouthed
be careful
. He sent

her what he hoped to be a reassuring smile, then palmed

the rifle and crawled from the tent opening on his belly.

Bracing the rifle against his shoulder, he half expected his

appearance to draw fire.

Nothing.

Only the busy chatter of day creatures awakening all

around them. The men had probably moved on. He waited

several more minutes, then rose to one knee. Still nothing.

He stood, then made a quick sweep around the area.

Satisfied, he returned to the shelter.

“Come on out. It’s clear.”

Daria joined him, glancing around. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. They’ve gone. The problem is, they’re fanned

out, moving in a straight line in the same direction we

want to go—toward our rendezvous point. And now

they’re
ahead
of us, or at least this squad is, rather than

behind.”

Her brown eyes widened. “Oh, God. That means we’re

literally surrounded.”

“We can assume so. The good news is they don’t know

that, or we would already be dead.”

“Somehow, honey, I don’t find that very promising.”

“We’re breathing. For now, that will have to do.” Ryon

paused, considering the wisdom of his next move. “You

need a weapon.”

“I’m not exactly a marksman.”

“Desperate times.” Bending, he retrieved the handgun

strapped to his ankle. Straightening, he held it out to her,

butt first. “Three fifty-seven SIG. Can you handle it?”

Daria took it from him, mouth falling open. “You’re

trusting me with this?”

“I’m not worried about your abilities. Just point and

shoot if you have to, but watch the recoil.”

She studied it dubiously. “All right. I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all either of us can do,” he said quietly.

“Ready?”

“We’re keeping to the plan? This would be the perfect

time to turn back and get the evidence we need,” she said

eagerly. “August would never expect it.”

Grabbing his pack, Ryon stood for a moment, thinking

of the pros and cons. With the majority of August’s men

out searching for them, she was right. He just didn’t want

to admit it. After a long moment, he let out a sigh. “You

make a really good point.”

Her eyes widened and she stepped into him, placing her

palms on his chest. “You mean that?”

“Yeah. I do.” At last, he forced himself to swallow his

pride and jealousy. It was a bit rough going down. “Ben is

important to you, so he is to me, too. I want to help him

and anyone else out there who’s been hurt by those

experiments.”

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him

soundly. He had to force his mind from taking her then and

there, no matter how badly he wanted to do it. Reluctantly

he let her go and they got ready.

Daria changed back into her dark fatigues for the day’s

hike, tucking the gun into the waistband. Then she took two

protein bars from her pack and handed one to Ryon.

“Here. Quick energy before we go.”

“Thanks. Until now, I can’t remember when I’ve ever

looked forward to eating compressed sawdust.” He

unwrapped the bar and consumed half of the nasty thing in

one bite. “I’m so hungry, I’d give my firstborn for a plate

of bacon and eggs.”

“Think about something else. How’s the arm?”

Ryon glanced at the scratch. “A little sore, that’s all. I’d

nearly forgotten it.”

She stuffed the rest of the bar into her mouth, then

peered at his arm. “Looking good. No sign of infection.”

“Thanks, Doc.” His lips turned up. “You are a woman

of many talents, my mate.”

“You have no idea,” she teased, hefting her pack.

“Oh, I think I do.”

As they headed back, making a wide berth to avoid any

of the goons that might’ve been behind them, he reached

out to Nick.

Change of plans, boss. Most of August’s men passed

us, so we’re going back to take one more crack at

getting that evidence.

All right, but be careful. There’s been a development.

Ryon tensed.
What’s going on?

The creature isn’t here in the Shoshone anymore. We

don’t think he’s anywhere around, in fact.

He let that sink in, and his blood chilled.
You think he’s

coming here?

I’d say it’s highly possible.

How fast can he possibly get here on foot?

Pretty damned fast if he was given any Tracing

abilities during the experiments. The park rangers here

have reported three more kills that are less than a day

old—and each kill is more than twelve miles apart. No

way could he have covered that wide an area on foot in

one night.

Shit! But why would he come here?

I’m guessing he’s going after August, or you and

Daria. Perhaps he senses that Daria is gone. Keep your

eyes open.

Very funny, boss. He’s fucking invisible!

Not totally,
Nick reminded him.
Watch for irregular

patterns around you, like a clear kaleidoscope effect.

You can spot him.

Thanks for the pep talk.

Hang in there. Shoot us the information the second

you break into his files. If there’s a cure present, we’ll

give it to the lab and have them get right to work on it.

Then, when we get the word from you, we’ll go wheels up

and head out to retrieve you both.

Thanks, Nick.

Talk soon.

“Daria, hold up.” She stopped, looking at him

questioningly. “Bad news—Ben is on the move.”

“In his beast form?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Unfortunately, that’s likely the case. Nick thinks he

might be headed this way, maybe coming after us or your

uncle.”

Her face paled. “Now we’ve
got
to get that cure. We’re

running out of time and we’ve got nothing effective to fight

him with.”

He nodded. “Seems you were right all along and I’ve

been a fool.”

“Give yourself a break. We were being pursued and

shot at. You were protecting me.”

“Thanks, sweetheart. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

As they started off again, a shadow passed over his

soul. This was a suicide mission.

And even Nick wasn’t saying whether Ryon would

make it home alive.

Twelve

For hours, Daria trudged along behind Ryon, staring at

his perfect backside. How wonderful was her mate for

seeing this through? She craved justice against August for

what he’d done to Ben, and she’d have it. Ben had been a

fine man, a good friend. As lovers, however, she and Ben

were all wrong for each other and the parting had been

painful.

But she’d done her share of grieving, and had come out

the other side. After a long, desolate stretch, Ryon had

awakened the longing to be touched, held. Wrapped in

Ryon’s arms, she finally knew what it meant to find the

other half of her soul.

“Check this out.”

Ryon halted in his tracks, staring ahead. The trail had

led them to a small pond about a quarter of the size of a

football field. The thick foliage surrounding the banks

made it seem much smaller, more secluded. Sunlight

filtered through the forest canopy, causing lovely dappled

patterns across the greenery and glassy surface. Huge old

trees stood sentry at the perimeter of the bank, their dark

roots extending into the water like bony fingers. Several

azure butterflies floated on the air, some drinking from

large flowers.

“Oh, wow! It’s gorgeous!” Daria tugged on his arm, as

excited as a child. “I’m
so
hot and grimy, could we cool

off?
Please?”

“I don’t know.” He scowled, taking in the area. “Let me

try something first. Give me a bit of your jerky.”

“What for?” Curious, she wasted no time setting down

her pack and fetching the beef, especially if it meant a

bath. She opened the bag, tore off a piece, and handed it to