Her Wanted Wolf (35 page)

“Georgia. The few remaining signals have converged in a city on the coast
and haven’t moved for a couple of hours. Royal Sinclair tracked the Redmavens
and picked up Aimee’s scent.” He flicked the phone open and made a call. “Rafe,
we’re moving out now. Alert my fore-fighters and their Silverwolf counterparts.
The rest of the fighting force will follow after we’ve gotten the okay from the
alpha of the domain we’re entering.”

He handed her a set of clothes and shoved more into a satchel.

He dressed himself with swift economic movements. Sabine drew on the
pants he’d handed her slowly, fumbling with the fastenings.

“Get moving, babe. We’re flying into Royal Sinclair’s territory to pay
our respects. He’s a friend and better yet, he’s a blood thirsty S-O-B. He’ll
want to kick some Redmaven ass too.”

“Fly! No, no flying. Feet or four paws firmly on the ground.” The thought
of going up in the air again made her queasy.

“Yeah fly, but you’ll enjoy it this time, I promise. We’ll be traveling
in comfort and style.” He motioned for her to start dressing.

Sabine nodded and drew on the shirt, grateful that the garments were
feather light and loose fitting. He understood she hated the confinement of
tight clothes. She’d hardly slid her feet into the heelless, butter-soft
leather shoes she’d found she could just about tolerate, before he hustled her
from the room.

Sabine trotted to keep up with Drew’s long strides. They were going into
new territory, but she knew his scent as well as her own. She could find him in
a crowd, if they became separated. This was it. A frisson of fear chilled her
skin. She could lose him. Bearing a youngling who may have the traits of a
Silverwolf to save her blood pack didn’t seem important now.

* *
* *

Driving onto the airstrip, Sabine listened for the dreaded whirr of the
helicopter blades. Instead, her attention was drawn to a craft whose engines
gave off a powerful, rumbling purr. She never imagined the sound a machine
emitted could be sexy, but it was. It was sleek like a bird of prey, hinting at
speed and power.

“That’s the new plaything Rick Ambervane wants us to buy into.”

Intrigued, but doubtful, she moaned, “Would it mean more flying in my
future? I’m going to be tossed about in the wind like a dandelion.”

“It would make traveling easier and more comfortable.”

“How is it that you’re so blasé about flying?”

“I survived a helicopter crash. I figured the Devil wasn’t ready for me
yet.”

Sabine felt all the feeling leach from her body. “Now you tell me,” she
griped, aghast at his nonchalance.

“There you are. I didn’t catch the scent of your arrival. If I hadn’t
heard your voices, I would have thought you’d changed your mind.” A were exited
the plane and jumped down onto the tarmac.

An Ambervane—there was no mistaking his coloring. Amber-eyed, with
shoulder-length midnight black hair brushing his shoulders, he ambled over to
them. He had a close resemblance to Justice, but his body was leaner, his
demeanor not as menacing as the supreme alpha.

“Sabine is having doubts about taking another flight. Your chopper has
put her off flying.” Drew put his arm around her shoulder and urged her to move
closer to the jet.

“Rick Ambervane, at your service.” He took her hand and pressed a courtly
kiss on her knuckles. “Don’t worry, the Lear cruises at thirty thousand feet.
You won’t be at the mercy of the air current like the chopper. I will make sure
you have a smooth, unforgettable ride.”

Sabine got the impression he wasn’t referring to their upcoming flight.
However, the laughter in his eyes diffused the
double entendre
in his
words.

Drew must have caught his inference, because he let out a throaty,
threatening growl.

“Sabine Silverw…” She caught Drew’s scowl. “Ahummm, Lunedare, a pleasure
to meet you.”

“Oh, the pleasure is all mine,” Rick drawled, with a flashing grin full
of charm, which Sabine couldn’t help but respond to. “Hey, Drew, I never did
get to kiss the bride,” Rick taunted, leaning in to kiss her cheek, not at all
intimidated by Drew.

“And you won’t,” Drew shot back and pulled her to his side.

“Selfish bastard.” Rick let out a regretful sigh. “Pity this moody old
son saw you first. Got any sisters?”

Sabine’s lips twitched. “Two.”

“Oh, do tell.” Rick reclaimed her hand, placed it on his forearm, and
started to guide her over to the aircraft. “Coming, Drew? If not, I’ll take
good care of your mate.”

“Why are you drawing his fangs?” She glanced over her shoulder at Drew.
He didn’t appear to be very irritated. Exasperated, maybe.

“He needs to lighten up. He might be the first were to have a stroke, the
way he worries. I’m your pilot. It should save me from getting skinned.”

“There is always later, after we’ve gotten to our destination,” Drew
promised darkly, a few steps behind them.

At the rumble of several engines, they paused and waited for a couple of
vehicles to pull up beside Drew’s truck. Sabine lifted her head and sniffed the
air. There was no hint of the arriving wolves. Her sisters had masked their
spoor, as they’d been trained to do, Sabine thought with satisfaction.

Led by a grim-faced Rafe, her relatives and Drew’s fore-fighters ambled
over to them.

“Damn, Drew, couldn’t you have called your brother-in-arms to share your
bounty,” Rick complained, looking at her pack sisters with warm, masculine
interest. The moonlight shone on their silver tresses, making them bright
beacons in the darkness as they moved over the pavement with sinuous feminine
grace.

“You have your hands full from what I hear.”

“Yeah, right.” Rick dropped Sabine’s hand and flashed a welcoming grin to
the women. Ishbel smiled back flirtatiously.

“Can you clear the air so that Rick’s spoor won’t linger?” Drew asked.

“Yes, as soon as we imprint his essence on our olfactory memories,”
Sabine said.

At a slight tilt of Sabine’s head, the Silverwolves moved in to crowd
around Rick, sniffing his skin.

“Ladies,” Rick said, exuding teasing magnetism, which Ishbel responded to
with a playful grin. “Allow me to help you aboard and set for takeoff.”

“Is he
never
on the prowl for a new lover?” Rafe griped as he
watched the women enter the aircraft.

“He is Rick.” Drew chuckled and took Sabine’s elbow. “Ready for a new
experience?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Her stomach did flip flops, but she gritted
her teeth and walked up the stairs with Drew’s hand on the small of her back.
To her surprise, it had the accoutrements similar to a living room, with rich
caramel colored leather seats and thick carpeting underfoot. It had four solid
walls with tiny windows, unlike the gaping holes of the helicopter.

Sabine settled into a chair. The plush cushioning cradled her body in a cocoon
of comfort. Drew fastened her seat belt and took his place beside her. At least
she’d be comfortable. The bench seats on the helicopter were hard on the
buttocks.

Sabine gripped Drew’s hand when the vibrations of the engines increased.
She snapped her eyes shut and prepared to be shot up into the air. Just
something new. She must remember to be careful what she asked for.

* *
* *

When Drew was right, he was right. Sabine had barely felt the plane take
to the air. She still kept a death grip on Drew’s hand during the smooth
flight. He used the other to ply her with some bite-sized pastries. That went a
long way to help push back the fact that they were thousands of feet above
terra firma.

Licking icing off her fingers, she listened to Drew and Rafe go over
their strategy. “It’d be fun to creep up on Royal using Sabine’s and her
sister’s skills,” Rafe said as he nibbled on a grape.

“Yeah, won’t it?” Drew agreed. “I’ve already informed him that we’re
entering his territory, but I didn’t tell him about the she-wolves.”

Rafe got to his feet. “I’ll go find out from Rick what our ETA is.” His
eyes flicked over the women. “You do know that once word gets out, every alpha
is going to do their level best to acquire a Silverwolf for their pack, by fair
means or foul.”

“Staying with us or joining another pack will be up to the individual
women. We will protect and provide a safe haven for them as long as they want
one. I gave my word to Balthazar.”

Rafe looked over at her. “How is your father doing?”

“Better, thanks for asking. He spends most of his time in human form.
Greta is hoping that the nutrients and the accelerated healing attributes of
our were heritage will bring him back to health.”

“If he’s as strong-willed as you are, I’m sure he will.” His eyes strayed
over to Ishbel.

Drew grinned. “Who do you think they got their cussed contrariness from?”

Sabine swung her arm back to jab her elbow into his belly, but he caught
it before she could do any damage.

“We are not contentious.” Sabine defended her pack. Rafe snorted before
ambled off.

“Of course not, you’re a fine example of sweetness and docility.” With a
sardonic smirk on his face, Drew pulled her onto his lap.

“Yes, we are,” Sabine agreed, knowing he didn’t mean a word of it. She
snuggled up against him.

“Tell me about this new alpha I’m about to meet.” Sabine placed her head
on his chest and sighed.

“Royal Sinclair, alpha to the Sinclair pack. He’s a little flexible with
pack laws, unless he can work them to suit his purposes. A good man to have at
your back.” Drew chuckled.

“You speak of him as if he’s a friend.”

“Yeah, you can call him that. We have a lot in common. The Redmavens took
his sister too. We used that transgression to enter the unsanctioned den
Bardo’s father set up in the city to retrieve her. It was there we found out
how far the Redmavens would go to empower their pack.”

The barely perceptible change in the engines alerted her to their
descent. Sabine scrambled off Drew’s lap, fastened her seatbelt, grabbed his
hand, and shut her eyes again.

“You know shutting your eyes won’t make a bit of difference,” Drew
informed her, as if she wasn’t aware of that salient fact. His hand tightened
around her sweaty one, giving her something tangible to hold onto.

“I don’t want to see the ground rushing up at me,” she explained. It was
perfectly obvious to her why she’d need to blank out the image.

“Then why shut them when we’re going up?” Drew asked, a hint of something
close to laughter in his voice.

The man was beginning to annoy her with all these questions. “I don’t
want to see us shooting up into the air.” She could feel the faint waft of air
displacement as he shook his head.

“You could avoid looking through the window instead of shutting your
eyes.”

Exasperated, she spat out, “I could develop a headache every night to
avoid making love to you too, but I don’t, do I?” Sabine braced for the
expected impact. Here they were, diving toward the ground, and he was talking
up a storm.

Drew pressed his lips to hers and bit her bottom lip. The slight, but
sharp ache pulled her focus from her fears. His tongue swiped over her sore
spot, before it slipped into her mouth. Their tongues tangled, the taste of him
jumbled her thoughts, as always. His hand found her breast under her shirt,
pulled her from the state of hazy confusion and sent a spike of mind-blanking
sexual need. The taste of Drew was all that she thought about.

The plane set down with a bump and Drew broke their kiss.

He tweaked her nipple and released her. “See, nothing to worry about.”

Her eyes flew open. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“What?” He raised his brow, pretending ignorance.

“Kiss me stupid, so I’d forget.” She looked him through narrowed eyes.

“Did it work?”

She grinned at him, a little shamefaced at her fears. “I don’t know
whether to hug you for it, or strangle you for putting me on another plane.”

“I’ll settle for the hug, can’t have too many of those.” He brushed his
lips across hers, unclipped his seatbelt, and hauled her up onto her feet.
“Now, let’s go kick some Redmaven ass, get my sister.”

Chapter Twenty-five

Sabine stepped from the aircraft into a cloud of liquid heat. She took a
tentative sniff. The moisture-laden air was very different from the drier
atmosphere in the mountains. The scents were different too, no tangy pine in
the air.

Drew ran down the short flight of stairs and she followed in his wake.
The spoor of unknown werekin peppered the air. Instinct kicked in and she shed
pheromones to mask their presence.

“Who sucked away all the air?” Sabine took stock of the rusted metal
shack listing to one side. A motor’s congestive sputter whined from its
confines adding a discordant rattle to the din.

“Welcome to the south,” Drew drawled and turned his nose to the sky to
test the wind. “Did you obscure our presence?”

“Already done,” Sabine murmured. She wasn’t a total novice.

Drew swung his head from side to side. His fore-fighters exited the plane
and took up their places on either side of him. Sabine and her pack mates slid
into position by the men they’d been paired with, prepared to defend their
backs.

Drew spread arms his into an aggressor’s stance, unsheathed his claws,
and let out a low challenging growl.

Hearing the menace in the answering howl raked over her nerves like a
dull knife and lifted the hair on Sabine’s body.

Weres approached, but she couldn’t pinpoint the direction they came from,
which meant they were surrounded. She inched closer to Drew’s side. The bulbs
from the strings of lights running down the pavement pointed to them a like an
arrow. They were sitting ducks.