Hunted Down by His Alpha (10 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Tobias

I heard Hayden’s scream of pain, the raw anguish in it echoing the explosion of fire through my body as I stumbled backwards and felt myself propelled over the edge.
Hayden, I’m so sorry.

My arm felt numb and useless but I tried to keep it curled around my stomach as I fell. I could feel the slow pump of my blood exiting out through the deep wound where the knife had sliced through my upper arm.
I’m sorry I couldn’t protect our pups, I’m sorry I’m leaving you. Again.
Anguish and rage ripped through me as the knowledge I’d be leaving Hayden alone again and taking our pups with me tore through me.
No! I’m not letting it happen. I won’t!

I let out a cry as my body impacted on a branch jutting out from the side of the cliff, slowing down my descent before I felt myself falling again. My eyes snapped open and I felt my vision sharpen even more than it ever had before as the sight of another branch caught my eye. I reached out as I careened past it and grunted as I caught hold of the thick limb. Splinters dug into my fingers and palms, the rough, sharp bark scraping and cutting in my hand as I held on.

Don’t let go.

My other arm felt dead, but I forced it out as adrenaline rushed through me giving me the boost I needed. But as I gripped onto the branch I knew that my energy wouldn’t hold out and I couldn’t afford to call out to Hayden and distract him again, not if it meant Roman would aim for his throat this time. I knew that Hayden wouldn’t finish that fight until either or both were dead.

I looked up and knew that I wouldn’t be able to reach the branch I’d hit earlier. It was too far up.
Think! Don’t panic yet.
I looked down and swallowed at the looming darkness. No, I wouldn’t fall. There had to be another way. My eyes widened as I caught sight of the small ledge to the right. Above that was another tree jutting out of the cliff face and if I could get a hold of that, I could perhaps climb my way back up.

I calculated the distance to the ledge and knew that the jump was going to be near impossible but there was no other way. I could already feel my strength draining away as blood trickled down my side from the deep wound. If I didn’t try I’d die anyway. Making the decision, I swung as hard as I could on the branch hoping it would propel me forward and then let go as I pitched towards the ledge.

No, I wasn’t going to make it!
The ledge was too far. I growled as sorrow and despair filled me and then my eyes shot wide open as I felt something burst through me and begin to change. Pain shot through me as I felt my body stripping down, peeling away, like my DNA was being scrubbed away and re-written as my bones popped and changed, my skin feeling overwhelmingly tight. I slammed against the side of the ledge and felt as though I was somewhere else looking on as I watched my paws scrabble at the rock and find hold. Then I was lifting myself over and sinking against the narrow, dirty rock ledge as my body twisted and elongated, becoming human once again.

I’d shifted.

It shouldn’t have been possible, but I didn’t have time to dwell on why my shifting abilities would kick in now. I didn’t have time to be in shock, I needed to get back up there. I needed to get help, needed to get back to Hayden.

Wait for me, mate. I’m coming.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Hayden

I roared as I watched Tobias go over the edge. Roman forgotten, I leapt for the edge of the cliff only to cry out as claws sank into my lower back and pulled me backwards. I snarled and swiped at the white wolf, pain and anguish moving my body without thought.

“
You fucking son of a bitch! How could you?!” I roared as I twisted back to my half-shifted form and tore at the man I’d considered my most trusted.
He’d betrayed me!
He’d
been
betraying me the moment I met Tobias. How had I not seen it? He was the one who’d ripped my mate from me, who’d torn our lives apart. I wanted to tear and rip into him, make him feel the pain I was feeling even though it’d never be enough. Nothing ever would be.

I’d had scented Tobias’s fear, thick and metallic in the air when I’d headed back to the house. Frantic, I’d followed it and the thick smell of perfume until I’d heard the voices. And what I’d heard had made me want to vomit. It tore at my chest as viciously now as it had moments ago when the confession was fresh. As fresh as the soul-destroying sight of watching my mate die.

“It was you! You were the one!
You were the one!
” I yelled as I slashed at the wolf. White fur parted and crimson splashed out bleeding onto the snowy pelt but it didn’t nothing to assuage my pain.

“
I did it for you!”
his black eyes screamed at me as his counter attacks got weaker and weaker.

I felt the hot burning tears run down my cheeks as I shifted and bit down hard on his jugular, heard the snap of his neck. The fight was over in seconds. The taste of his blood on my tongue was acidic and hot, but I didn’t let go until the last of his life bled out of him and I felt his dying body still, the pump of blood come to a stop. I lifted my head and shifted, turning my head to spit out the toxic coppery-ness of his blood as I backed away blindly until I reached the edge of the cliff. There was already too much pain that I didn’t even notice the addition as I fell down to my knees on the hard ground and looked over the edge.

There was nothing. Nothing but darkness. Like my future stretching out before me. I threw back my head and cried, howling as my wolf did the same. The pain was destroying.

I don’t know how long I kneeled there, hot tracks dripping from my cheeks onto the ground, blood coating my hands and mouth as I lost myself to the darkness. I growled, snarling as I felt someone shake me.

“Hayden…
Hayden!
”

I swiped at the hand on my arm, wanting to push it away, not wanting the touch of anyone but my mate, when I felt the smaller, lean body press itself to me and wrap me in strong arms.

“Hayden, please, it’s me!”

I growled, ready to tear at the body when the clear, sweet scent of my mate filled my head. I froze as I forced myself to look up and open my eyes. Blue-green eyes, leaning more towards blue and filled with worry and terror, looked down at me anxiously.

“How...?” My arms snapped out and wrapped tightly against him, locking around him and pulling him tighter against me as though they wouldn’t ever let go. And they wouldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
I pressed my face against his head and breathed in deeply, filling my senses with him. “How’s this possible?” I asked raggedly, my voice broken. “I watched the knife hit you, I watched you go over the cliff.”

“I shifted.”

I froze at my mate’s words. I loosened up my hold, but didn’t release him as he nudged against my chest and looked up at me with watery eyes. “I shifted. I can shift.”

I shook my head, more at the impossibility of it happening when he needed it most, than his words, and as though he wanted to prove it to me, he pushed out of my arms and stepped back. I frowned and reached out to pull him back to me when I watched with stunned amazement as his body shifted, flowing into the form of a sleek wolf, his sable pelt glowing in the moonlight.

“You can shift,” I whispered with wonder. I watched as he shifted back and then he was in my arms again, more precious than life itself. “What about the pups? Are they—?”

“They’re fine. See they’re happy about the adventure,” he said as he took my hand in his and pressed it against his swollen stomach. I shivered as I felt the small, soft kick against the palm of my hand. It was followed by another.

“They’re strong, just like their father.”

“Like you,” I said as I crushed him back to me. “I thought I lost you,” I whispered brokenly against him as the last half hour rushed back. I shuddered and felt the burn behind my eyes intensify. “I can’t live without you, mate, you’re my world. My sanity.” I felt his hands cup my face gently and then he was pulling me towards him, ghosting his lips across mine. I cringed as he pulled back, his lips stained red. I lifted my hand to scrub at the blood, but he smiled and pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.

“What you did, you did for me. I know that Hayden. Thank you for coming to save me, tonight and two months ago. You’re my world too, and if I’m your sanity than you’re my madness I can’t live without. You’ve turned my life upside down and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you, Hayden, my mate, and I’m never going to leave your side again.” He crushed his mouth against mine, and I sighed as love swelled over me.

He was back. He was safe. And nothing and no one was ever going to take him from me again. I pressed my forehead against his as we parted. My hands slid up his arms and I froze as he winced and bit off a cry of pain. “What’s wrong? Fuck, you’re hurt, how could I forget!” My voice was frantic as I slid my eyes and hands over him.

“It’s fine. The knife sliced through my arm, but I think the shift helped heal it a bit because the bleeding’s slowed down.”

“It’s not fine,” I gritted as I frantically moved my eyes down the side where I’d seen the knife slice through him. I shivered, cringing at the open wound on his upper arm. Blood stained his arm down to his hand and down his side but the wound was no longer gushing, only slowly seeping. Cold fear rushed through me at the sight of it. I swept my arms beneath Tobias’s knees and moved to sweep him up and against my chest so I could run him to Seamus’s but he stopped me.

“It’s not life threatening, Hayden, it can wait,” he said softly. “But I can’t. Now kiss me properly.”

I frowned as I looked back at the wound, but I didn’t hesitate for a second longer and did as he asked.

I kissed him properly.

EPILOGUE

Tobias

“I can’t believe you promised them we’d go out tonight. Again.” Hayden huffed with feigned annoyance as he pulled off his clothes.

I drank in the sight of my mate’s hard, thickly muscled body as he pushed down his pants and stepped out of them. I pulled my eyes back up to him and rolled them at his cocky grin. He knew exactly what his body and that grin with his heated, dancing green eyes did to me, and I knew exactly what he was trying to do. Seduce me back into bed and tell the pups that our evening run would need to be postponed. “If I didn’t they’d be up all night. Again.”

“We could throw them a bone and let them fight over it to keep them busy while
we
keep ourselves busy,” Hayden suggested as he pulled me into his arms and rocked his hips against mine.

I gave him a look. “The pups aren’t dogs.”

“We could pop in a DVD and let them watch Dora the Explorer?” he suggested hopefully.

“And they’re well past the age of being easily distracted by cartoons, and know when we’re trying to distract them,” I said dryly.

“Wyatt was right, the bastard,” Hayden chuckled.

I looked at him quizzically. “About what?”

“He said when we had ours, we’d wish they’d grow up a lot faster and slower. Now I wish they were still small enough to fall asleep after a good meal or old enough to know when their parents want some alone time. When their daddy is desperate for their mommy—daddy,” he corrected when I punched him in the arm.

I laughed. “They know we want alone time. Why do you think they work so hard to keep us occupied?”

“They’re little devils,” he groaned.

“And we love them.”

“I do. And I love you, the other half of my soul,” Hayden said softly as he brushed a kiss over my lips.

“My mate,” I echoed as he backed me against the bed and tumbled us both down onto it. His mouth came down over mine and I moaned as his tongue swept between my parted lips as he kissed me like he’d just found me again. Like he did every time. My hands wrapped around his back, sliding up the hard slabs of muscle and threading through the base of his thick, silky hair as I rubbed against him and slid my leg up his calf, curling it around the back of his thighs.

“
Mate,”
Hayden breathed as he pressed his forehead to mine and smiled down at me with wonder.

I moved to pull him back down towards me, wanting to finish what we’d started when we froze. The pitter-patter of feet echoed down the hall outside our door ominously. We sprang apart, Hayden pulling the sheet over us just in time, as the door burst open and three sets of identical twins hurtled into the room.

“Are you ready yet?” Zach, our first-born, asked as he tugged on his sister’s pigtail and pounced onto the bed. Hayden caught him with an exaggerated
oomph!
The other five giggled and quickly followed suit, scrambling up onto the large bed and bouncing up and down on the mattress.

“We wanna go run! Run! Run!” the middle twins, Leif and Trina, chanted as they shifted in and out of their wolf forms. I’d been worried that my human blood would affect their abilities to shift but I needn’t have worried. They seemed to shift as fast and as smoothly as their father and did so regularly when they knew it was time for bed and decided it was the perfect time to play catch the pup.

“Please daddy,” our youngest daughter Skylar pleaded as she batted her wide green eyes up at us. Her and her twin, Evan had inherited Hayden’s unusual green eyes while the other four had a mixture of blue-green and blue.

“Alright go and get ready, you little wild mongrels,” Hayden said sternly, but no one missed the tenderness in his rough voice. Six little faces grinned up at us and they rushed out the door in a little stampede yelling and laughing at one another as they barreled down the staircase towards the kitchen.

“No running in the house!” Hayden yelled, but as usual the pups were too excited about their night run to pay him any heed.

“We need to set up a dungeon where there are no bones and no cartoons. We’ll call it the punishment room and we’ll keep them in there until they learn to listen to their father and stop crashing into our bedroom without knocking when their daddy is busy with their other daddy.”

I laughed as I pushed the sheet away and crawled back over Hayden’s body. “You do realize that it sounds a lot more lovely than you’re trying to paint it out to be. I wouldn’t mind being locked up there with you while this daddy is busy with
this
daddy.” Hayden groaned as I wrapped my hand around his thick cock. I knew the pups would keep themselves amused for a little while longer while they waited for us. We had five minutes tops and I intended to make use of every second.

“I would go anywhere with you, my mate. You’re my home. My heart and soul belongs to you, as it always has. As it always will.”

“Thank you for finding me. Thank you for never giving up. I love you, Hayden.”

He pulled me towards him and then his mouth was slanting over mine and we didn’t need any more words.

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