Hunted Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Eight (9 page)

“Wait,” Hannah called after him. “Viper. Wait.”

He stopped, facing the water, trying to forget everything behind him. Hannah’s hand slid up his arm to his shoulder, but he didn’t turn around. “Don’t call me that,” he said.

“Call you what? Viper?”

“It’s not my name.”

“But that’s what everyone calls you.” She walked around to stand in front of him, her hair blowing around her face in the light breeze.

He ground his teeth, but Hannah’s compassionate glance stilled some of his anger. The feel of her hand on him, the magick swirling around them, he wanted more of that.

“My name is Josh Vipperman.” He grabbed her hand. “Viper is the guy who does this.” He pointed around behind them, taking in Luna and Christina and all the kids, the MC-130, the M4s, the packs, the injuries, the death. “Viper kills people. He’s pretty pissed off that he didn’t get to torture Adrian Rossi for days and days, and part of him wants to kill those women, for what they’ve done, what they’ve participated in.”

“But you won’t.” She put her hand on his heart. “Because you’re a good man, and a good soldier.”

“I’ll be honest,” he said, covering her hand with his, “Being good doesn’t take away hate like Viper has.” He pointed across the beach, to the groups of innocent children eating stale Army food, watching the strangers with wary eyes. “Someone has to stick up for these kids. Someone has to see justice done for them.”

“What about those kids?” Hannah turned his face so he could see Luna and Christina, sitting with Rain, still talking.

“They’re not kids.”

“But they were,” she stroked his cheek. “One time, they were kids, and a madman got ahold of them, and they did what they could to survive. They’re just as much his victims as anyone.”

Viper filled his lungs with the cool beachy air and exhaled, long. “I want to see justice done.”

“It was.” Her smile was so relaxed, so peaceful, he found the anxiety subsiding from his chest.

He just wanted to stare into her eyes and let her convince him there was nothing to be angry at anymore. “How is this
justice
?”

Hannah took both of his hands in hers. “I killed Adrian Rossi. He’s dead. He has paid for this injustice with his life.”

Viper shifted from side to side, rocking in the sand, trying to let her words soothe him, but the enormity of it wouldn’t let him be. “If I’m really honest, I want to bring the man back to life and kill him again. And then bring him back and let Gabriel kill him, and then bring him back, over and over, until he’s died enough.”

The words had tumbled out of him so fast, he hadn’t even felt them coming. But once they were out in the air, something clicked inside. The revenge fantasies.

They were more than just about Gabriel, or Luna, or the children. He pulled Hannah into his arms and held her, hoping that her mercy and light would fill him and assuage his burning guilt.

“There’ll never be enough bad men in the world to kill to right these wrongs,” she whispered against him. “Not the ones done to Gabriel and his daughter, and all of the children. Not the ones done to Josh Vipperman. Not the ones done to anyone.” Her hands rubbed up and down his back. “I see the mad desire in you. To hurt people who do wrong. You have a heroic heart.”

Heat welled up behind his eyes, and burned a trail down his nose and into his throat. He held his breath. He hadn’t told her about his mother and father, but it didn’t matter.

She was right. There weren’t enough bad men to kill. He’d never be able to kill enough of them.

Viper stroked her hair and gripped her hard against him. She was the balm for his wounded soul. He was beginning to believe that, with Hannah in his life, he would be a different man. A better man.

“You’re a wise woman,” he whispered into her hair. The guys couldn’t hear this. He needed there to be a moment with just him and Hannah.

He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted anyone. Not just to feel her body wrap around his, but to feel her presence with him. Always. He wanted her to belong to him.

Forever.

“You’re a valiant man,” she said.

And for a long moment, he just smelled her freshness and felt the weight of her in his arms, and nothing else in the world mattered. Not the Army, not his past, not the evil in the world. Only the future, and Hannah.

Only Hannah.

S
he curled
her body closer to his in the small tent they’d claimed on the edge of the beach camp. Her body ached from trudging through the horrors of today.

The hiking and fighting had taken a toll not only on her muscles, but on Hannah’s mind. She could live with what she’d done.

With the life she’d taken from this world.

That act had changed her. She’d worked and studied her whole adult life to be a doctor. To heal. To save. And out of everyone on this island that’d wanted Adrian Rossi dead—wanted to take vengeance on him—in the end, she’d been the one to snuff out his life. She’d done it without hesitation.

He’d hurt her mate and something inside her had just snapped.

The thought of losing Viper had made her hollow inside, and that pain had been unbearable. The act of continuing to breathe without him would’ve been too much for her heart to take. She knew how strong Maggie and Luther’s bond had been. How deeply it’d come over Nora and Rain too. But she had felt death’s hands coming for her when Viper had been shot. Nothing could’ve stopped her from killing Adrian. Not even her doctor’s oath.

He was here now. They were together. He was safe. They were both safe. Still wearing filthy clothes, covered in blood and sand and smelled of seawater, but they were alive and together.

The beat of Viper’s heart against her ear soothed the savage part of her she’d never experienced before.

She shifted and changed and ran every full moon just like every other Moonbound wolf. Her animal had always been peaceful. Happy with her life goals. Pleased to continue serving in her family’s tradition and medical practice. Her ancestors had all been healers, even before there was ever a thing called a doctor. Having a mate changed everything.

Changed her. And she was excited to see where it led. Her life was a pattern of predictable scenarios, but now…

Now there were more possibilities than she could conceive. She wasn’t going to go home. She’d call her father and mother and explain, but she couldn’t go home.

Not until she and Viper had sealed their bond permanently and found their way together. Hannah wouldn’t be strong enough to stand up to her father and mother’s disappointment that she’d not taken the path well-traveled. The path they’d laid out for her since she was a small child.

Viper exhaled deeply and tugged her even closer as he rolled to his side, immobilizing her between his hard body and his steely arms.

This was the road less traveled and it felt pretty damn good from where she was laying.

Hannah snuggled her face a little higher, into the opening of his shirt, and laid her cheek against his chest. Magick swelled through the connection, warming her entire body.

Energy coursed through her, but exhaustion won out over her aroused mind. She drifted to sleep, wishing for a hot shower and bed they could share for a minimum of twenty-four hours.

M
arco DiSanti took
a deep breath and his lungs filled with the succulent scent of charred Kobe beef steak. Just cooked enough to get a crust, but rare enough to preserve the marbled beauty of the meat.

He slid the steak out of the pan and onto the perfectly plated bed of roasted leeks and the fragrant ramps he’d searched for months to find.

Francis DuBois sat at the silver prep table in the center of the kitchen, holding his knife and fork like a cartoon toddler ready to chomp on a dinosaur leg.

Drooled like one.

“What’s taking so long?” Aria called out from beside her father, in that cute, petulant tone she had that made him want to bite her lip.

“It has to be perfect, babe.” He spooned some of the pan juices over the black and gold crust of the still sizzling steak. “It’s your alpha.”

“And your alpha,” she laughed. “But he’s not going to kick you out of the pack if you accidentally over-cook a steak.”

“Don’t make any promises, Aria.” Francis’ tone carried a smirk, and Marco added the special swirl of the calabrian chili sauce. His favorite. His specialty.

He flourished the plate onto the table in front of Aria’s father, and leaned against the stove, waiting for the first bite.

The first bite was the best.

Aria raised an eyebrow and reached for his hand. “Daddy likes his meat, I guess.”

“Everyone, quiet.” Francis held out his fork with the first bite of steak, and closed his eyes as he put the meat in his mouth. He chewed. His lips curled up into a smile. “Son. You can cook. That’s for sure.”

“That means you can
have
me.” Aria’s tone was playful, almost overtly sexual.

Marco still hadn’t gotten used to being so open about their sex life, and wasn’t sure he ever would. But it certainly curled his hair, the things she did in bed…

This woman.

This woman
.

He would never get enough of her.

A buzzing in his pocket shocked him.

The three of them exchanged a long look. This was the call. They’d been waiting for hours. His phone read a 336 area code. North Carolina.

He swiped at the front and immediately heard a
whoosh
of wind in his ear. “Rain?” he asked.

“Is this Marco?”

“Yes.”

“Is Aria there with you? And Francis?”

“Yes.” Marco slid his phone onto the stainless steel table top and hit the speakerphone. “Now we can all hear you.”

Rain’s voice disappeared under the wind again, but he cleared his throat and the words were much clearer.

“Adrian Rossi is dead.”

Aria’s smile dimmed and she cast her father a worried glance. “So it’s over?”

“It’s over,” Rain said, his words slow. “We got onto the island and Rossi managed to corner us in a bunker. If we hadn’t killed him, he would’ve killed us.”

Francis took a deep breath. “Rainier.”

“I know, sir.”

“You promised me.”

“I did.”

Marco raised an eyebrow at Aria. She shook her head and walked around the table. With anxiety bubbling in her chest, she slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back, holding him.

“The alphas aren’t going to be pleased,” Francis said.

“I know, Uncle Francis. I wish we could’ve brought him back for questioning.”

Aria squeezed Marco’s chest and whispered over his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

He paused, looking inside like he never had before.

Am I okay?
There didn’t seem to be an answer coming back. Did that mean he was okay? Or that he wasn’t?

His father was dead. The father he’d never known. The man who had kept his mother captive, who’d raped her. Did he care?

“I think so,” he whispered back.

Rain continued to talk over them, with Francis, but Marco had tuned out. He turned around and took Aria in his arms and brushed his lips over hers. Her groan turned up in laughter as he slid his tongue into her mouth.

“You are too predictable.” She bit his lip and nipped little kisses down his neck. Near his ear, she said, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“A father I never knew is now dead. I’m not sure what to feel.” He touched her forehead with his. “I know that I’m home here.”

Her lips spread into a smile. “Francis has been like my father since I was a girl. He can be your father, too.”

Marco glanced across the bright kitchen and couldn’t help feeling grateful for the round-faced man who turned his old wedding ring over and over on his finger while he tried to lead an old and storied pack through the aftermath of a madman’s actions. He was a good man. He had a good daughter, and a good niece.

“I like that option,” he said, lowering his lips to Aria’s again, breathing in her warmth and love, and turning his back on Adrian Rossi.

Forever.

“
L
ani
?”

Her name rolled softly on her mate’s lips. She’d never tire of it, but it was different this time. This was the call the pack had stayed up all night with her to wait for.

Her new mother-in-law squeezed her hand and nodded toward the small silver piece of technology that she still didn’t quite understand.

“You can do this,
mija
.”

Daughter
.

Teresa had taken her in with so much love and affection, it frightened her at first. Then made her angry. Then made her sad. Her own mother had never called her
daughter
with so much regard.

In her own broken way, she’d cared for her, but it had never been like this. Lani hadn’t realized what a family could truly be until Tomás had shown her his home. Introduced to all the people he called
family.
They protected each other much like her tribe back on the mountain, but here life was not so harsh.

She was allowed to make choices about everything. No one tried to force her to do something she didn’t want. No one ordered her about.

Teresa had sat in silence with her the first few days.

Tomás had hovered, paced, and worried. But his mother told him to leave each day to help his father with the ranch and she’d just sat there across from her, making baskets from straw. Never speaking. Just waiting for Lani to be ready, weaving that straw in and out, in and out, growing the bowl of the basket deeper and deeper.

After three days, she’d moved closer to Teresa and picked up straw to make a basket of her own. For two days and five baskets later, she’d finally been able to talk. Finally been able to reach for the love her mother-in-law offered.

Lani reached for the phone, but her hand trembled and it slipped from her palm.

Tomás picked up the phone from the hay bale where it’d fallen and pressed the screen. A familiar male voice came through the speaker. “It’s alright, love.” Tomás’ words were like balm on her chapped soul.

She loved his parents and this pack. Over the past three weeks they’d shown her how completely they’d accepted her. But Tomás had been her rock. Fate had truly blessed her.

“Citlani?”

She recognized Rain’s voice. “I’m here,” she croaked. Had the murderer escaped? Had more innocents died? Or was the monster who’d viciously murdered her mother paid with his life?

“It’s over. He is dead.”

Air rushed from her lungs. The whole barn was silent. Dozens of men and women waited for her. Awake until the early hours of the morning, just so she would feel their support. Their love.

She’d never felt so much love. All their faces watched her, calm, not judging. She could scream. Laugh. Cry with joy. And they would still just
be
there. No matter what choice she made. They’d still be there.

Lani was going to make it through this because of Tomás and his family. And his pack. Life was going to be good, better than it’d ever been before.

“Thank you.”

“I hope you find peace, Citlani.”

She looked up into her mate’s warm brown eyes. Tears welled and cascaded down her cheeks. “I already have,” she answered. She squeezed Teresa’s hand, smiled at Tomás, and then up at his father who sat just behind him. “I’ve found a good home where I am loved.”

L
uther Frost ran
his hand along the white fiberglass hull of the
White Pearl
for the last time. When Alex had come to the hospital and told Luther they had used his old home to transport the girls from Rossi’s island, a swell of pride had cascaded through him. He liked the idea of it being used for good.

After having been used for evil, for so long. Even unwittingly, it didn’t matter. It was still evil.

“You have
something
face,” Maggie said, stepping onto the dock beside him. She slid her hand into his and the warm ocean air ruffled her short hair. “What’s wrong?”

He patted the hull again. “It’s strange, Mag. I haven’t had a home since Boston.” He gazed out over the rolling water and leaned against the boat, pulling Maggie into his side. “When I was on the run, it was one job after another—Vadik could tell you, I was a mess. But somehow, Rossi saved me from that. I don’t know why, and now that I know who he really was…I…”

“You don’t have to say it,” she said, touching his chest and rubbing at the fabric that covered him. “I can feel the ache.”

“It’s still confusing, to feel so much gratitude for a man who basically ruined every life he touched.” Luther shook his head and leaned it back against the boat. The sun was low in the sky, giving the ocean vista a purplish-gold look. Clouds streaked across, like white streaks on a bright canvas.

The island was out there, still. Sitting in the hot sun all day. Dead bodies everywhere. They may have gotten the live ones out, but the dead would remain until the enforcers or the Rangers went to clear them out.

Rossi himself was there, somewhere. The details of the raid had been fuzzy, even after Alex had told and re-told what he’d heard.

“You think Hannah’s okay?” Maggie leaned her forehead on Luther’s chest. “I can’t even imagine.”

“We can go over to the landing strip and see her if you want.” He stroked her back as they stared off into the horizon together. “I just wanted to come and say goodbye to the old girl before we get on the plane with Dani.”

“Rain swears she’s okay.” Maggie’s voice took on a far away quality after he said Dani’s name. She had cried when they first told her about Niko, and her eyes were still somewhat red-rimmed, even hours later. She and Andrea had held each other and sobbed, but nothing could be done.

He was gone.

Even Donovan and Alex had gotten emotional when they heard. And someone was going to have to tell Niko’s family. Luther was glad not to have that job.

“Well, I think we should go.” Luther pushed off from the hull. No sense prolonging an already sad goodbye. He touched the fiberglass one last time. “You’ve been a good home.”

He threw his arm around Maggie and walked down the dock. His footsteps sounded hollow on the wood, and seemed to echo around them as they landed. When they turned to walk up toward the parking lot, a familiar face was darting through the vehicles toward them.

“Alex!” Maggie called out. “We’re over here.”

“There you are.” He jogged up to them and put his hand on Luther’s shoulder. “Hang on. Julianna is right behind me.”

“What’s wrong?” Maggie’s pulse began to thunder and Luther squeezed her to help her settle.

The pace of the last couple of months had worn on her. It was going to be a challenge to stop seeing crises everywhere she turned.

“They just released Andrea and Clara from the hospital.” Alex held up a hand to shield his eyes from the low sun. “I think the Rangers are going to bring most of the kids to the hotel so we can put them up until the alpha council decides what to do with them.”

“Julianna is okay with that?” Maggie asked.

“Hell, it was her idea.” Alex glanced behind him and a smile spread across his face when he saw his mate weaving through the last of the cars to join him. “Here she is.”

“What do you think the alphas will do with them?” Luther said.

“We’re not sure.” Alex opened his arms and Julianna stepped beside him, mirroring his smile.