Projected Pleasure (10 page)

Tears began to collect in her eyes once again. “They killed Colt,”

she said shakily. “Zachary is out there, he needs you.”

“Are you all right? Is any of that blood yours?” Cole stood before her, lifting Colt’s body from her arms. Gently, he laid him down on the leather sofa and turned back to her. “Are you injured? Answer me!”

“I’m fine, Cole. Go to Zachary. I don’t want him out there without his second in command. He needs you.”

She watched him look back at Colt’s body and then into her face.

His mouth opened briefly while he outstretched his hand toward her face. He looked about ready to say something, but he turned away and rushed outside. Sickness swamped Marley’s stomach. The two men she loved were in possible danger and there was nothing she could do about it.

Noticing the towels being handed to her, she took them and started cleaning up Colt’s body. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she observed she wasn’t the only one crying. Everyone here was so close, closer than she had ever been with her own mother or father. They were truly her family now, and she drew the line where family was concerned. She’d decide who would cross it and who wouldn’t.

* * * *

80

Jennifer Salaiz

Cole broke through the trees in wolf form. The scent of blood hung heavily in the air, causing him to gag. Normally, blood would have the opposite effect, but not when he could smell it was from the pack.

He let out a loud howl, feeling the anger pour through him. The muscles in his legs tightened while he pushed himself faster, harder to get to his leader. His job was protecting Zachary, and if he wouldn’t have been upstairs trying his best to slow Josie down from her sexual advances then he would have been with them from the beginning.

Just the thought of seeing Marley covered in blood like that nearly made his heart stop. If anything would have happened to her, he literally would have gone crazy. Life wasn’t worth living if Marley wasn’t in it.

Zachary’s scent hit his senses like a Mac track. He cut to the right, past two motionless pack members. The urge to make sure they weren’t dead gripped him, but he couldn’t stop. His job was to guard his best friend and leader.

“Zach!” Cole screamed in his thoughts.

“About damn time.”

Relief rushed through him. Suddenly, he came right into a circle of the remaining pack and Zachary. More than half of the twenty people patrolling the grounds were missing. They needed more men out here if the rest of them were going to remain from getting ambushed. With their numbers pushing over a hundred people, it was time to start making calls.

“I think it’s quite obvious to everyone we’re under attack. We’ve been through these woods already and no one remains, but we have their scent. Tonight we collect the bodies of our brothers and sisters and we mourn them. In the morning, the house will be flooded with people arriving. We start the search and put up posts then. They’ve declared war, and I guarantee you all they won’t win.”

Zachary morphed into human form and the rest followed suit.

“Let’s find the remaining bodies and bring them home. No one leaves
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the estate and no one besides the pack gets on. Henry should be back tomorrow from his trip to L.A. When he arrives, I want someone to notify me. You all know what to do. Cole, follow me.”

Everyone split up in groups. Zachary and Cole remained quiet until they reached the two bodies Cole passed earlier. They both were recently new to the pack, having put in three years at the most. Gerald and Rodney were both younger than him—early twenties. He couldn’t believe the events that took place. It felt like a nightmare. All along Marley tried to tell them, and both he and Zachary hadn’t believed her. Guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders.

“It’s all my fault,” Zachary said, mirroring his thoughts.

“I didn’t want to believe it, either.” Reaching down Cole picked up and cradled the limp, bloody body. The darkness of the color almost made him unrecognizable. Narrowing his eyes, he peered closer into the features of the motionless face, wishing there was some way to view the past. Suddenly, Gerald stiffened in his arms.

“Oh, Jesus!” Shocked, Cole jumped slightly, holding Gerald’s body firmer. “Zach, he’s alive. Hurry, I have to get him to the house.

He might know who’s responsible.”

Cole didn’t wait. He took off running as fast as he could while holding the body as still as possible. If there was a chance Gerald knew anything, he wasn’t going to miss his opportunity to find out.

The trees disappeared behind him as he broke into the clearing.

Within moments, he burst through the front door.

Marley had just finished cleaning Colt. She looked up at him, startled.

“He’s alive,” was all he could manage to get out.

Two of the females who happened to be nurses were still in their scrubs from just getting off of work. They ran forward holding a bag, already prepared, while Cole rushed Gerald to the first downstairs bedroom available.

“Marley, shut the door behind you.”

82

Jennifer Salaiz

Cole laid the unresponsive body down on the bed. He looked up into her pale face and prayed for the strength to tell her about the pack. She was so emotionally connected to every single individual that made up their large family. It was so different than what he let himself feel. Growing up around wolves, he accepted people would die, that he shouldn’t get attached to a particular person, but not Marley. She was still so innocent.

“How bad is it?” She closed the door and advanced to the bed.

Cole noticed she nervously pulled at the bloody robe. Rushing things wouldn’t be good.

He watched the nurses work on Gerald, checking his vitals and cutting off his clothes. Finally, after a few minutes, he took a deep breath and gathered her in his arms to whisper the news to her.

“Marley, there were at least twenty people out there on patrol.

Over half are dead or injured.”

Weight pushed against his arms as her body went limp and a gasp broke through her throat. Zachary opened the door, bringing both of their attention to him. Giving Cole a look, he shook his head
no
, once.

Marley fell apart. Sobs echoed off the walls while she shook her head back and forth. Never before could he ever remember feeling so helpless.

“Cole, take her to my room and get her cleaned up. We’ll handle things down here. There’s really not much left we can do, anyway. I don’t want her seeing anymore of this. I’ll stay with Gerald and see if he wakes up.”

Marley broke away from Cole’s arms. Her eyes began glowing brightly while she retreated to the far corner of the room. A sense of dread surfaced while he looked at her small frame poised down like a startled animal. He suddenly had a really bad feeling things were about to get out of control.

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The walls felt like they were closing in. Marley couldn’t even identify what emotion she was feeling. Everything between rage, hate, and fear collided inside, leaving her grasping for a way to react. Was this even really happening?

“Marley, honey, come to me,” Zachary said soothingly. “I’m sorry for this. I really am. We all should have listened to you. It’s my fault.

Please come here.”

Feeling the wall press firmer against her back, she realized there was nowhere else to go. “Zachary, tell me they’re not all dead because if they are…” She had no idea what she would do or think of it was confirmed.

“I’m sorry, Marley. Eleven died tonight.”

She let out a ragged breath. “Impossible. That would mean our woods would have been overrun with them. Our wolves are the best.”

Marley sobbed, confused.

“Yes, we picked up a lot of different scents. There were at least thirty of them.”

Only one person came to her mind, and with it, an intense rage.

Her body began to shake uncontrollably while she fought the wolf trying to take over. It made sense, and if her instincts were correct, she had been right about the twit from the beginning.

“
She’s
behind it,” Marley said, pointing her finger at the ceiling.

“It makes perfect sense. I’m going to kill her.” She quickly advanced toward the door.

“Whoa, Marley, hold on. Talk to me,” Zachary said, stepping in her path. Cole quickly joined him.

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Jennifer Salaiz

“From the first day Josephine arrived, things have been happening. She said Colt was her friend. Maybe he knew something she didn’t want us to know. It could be possible. With her came trouble. I can feel something is not right with her story!”

“I thought we talked about this,” Zachary said, reaching for her.

She quickly used her new senses and side stepped him, glaring into his eyes. “Are you saying you don’t believe me? If you’re taking her side, Zachary, then everything you told me about trust was a complete lie.”

Seconds turned into minutes while Zachary and Marley stared each other down. Marley wouldn’t break, she couldn’t. Everything she was doing was for the pack. She knew that now. It had nothing to do with Cole and everything to do with making sure no one else died.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were challenging me to be alpha.”

Marley was shocked by his words, but she couldn’t give up. “If that’s what it takes to make sure no one else ends up dead, I will. You told me earlier tonight that this was meant to be a partnership. We were both supposed to work together. I’m telling you what I feel to be fact, and you’re saying you don’t believe me.”

“No one is challenging anyone. I’ll get rid of Josie,” Cole said quietly.

“She’s not going anywhere until I get to speak with her first,”

Marley snapped at him.

“Marley, you know I always trust your judgment, but I don’t want to overreact without proof.”

Zachary reached for her, but she was too fast. Marley burst through the door and ran as fast as she could up the stairs. The sound of the men advanced quickly behind her, but she pushed herself faster until Cole’s door came into view, and she slipped inside.

Gilbert jumped up from the chair, startled. Marley didn’t even look at him. She had Josie by the neck against the wall, just as the men came through.

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“You did this, didn’t you? You killed my family, didn’t you!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she screamed.

“You’re lying. Do you know what?” Marley laughed. “I can sense your lies!”

“What is wrong with you? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Josephine squeezed from her throat.

Marley wasn’t sure what she smelled, but something was radiating off of the girl, and it wasn’t fear. Her instincts told her it was lies, so she went with it. To her, it made sense. The deeper Marley stared into Josephine’s eyes the more something triggered. She knew those eyes.

The tugging got worse just as she was grabbed from behind.

“Let go of me, dammit!” Marley screamed. “If you don’t let go of me I swear to you you’ll be sorry. They’ll kill us all!”

“Marley, it’s okay. No one else is going to die. I promise you I won’t let that happen. Cole, let’s take her to the room. We need to get her to calm down,” Zachary whispered quietly. “Josephine, I’m so sorry. My wife has just received some terrible news. I’m afraid she’s not herself right now.”

Looking behind herself at Zachary and Cole, she couldn’t believe how they didn’t trust her. An unfamiliar scent teased her senses for only a moment, and she felt herself grow cold. Her eyes flashed to Josephine.

“I know you’re behind this. Watch yourself, because the moment you slip, I’m going to rip out your throat, wolf,” Marley spit out.

A smile flashed across Josephine’s face but vanished as quickly as it appeared. “Whatever are you talking about, Marley?” Josephine asked sweetly.

Just the tone of that bitch enraged her. She was right, she knew she was! “Let me go, Zachary. Can’t you smell her? She’s a wolf, dammit! Cole, you can smell her, right?” Marley asked, trying to see them better from her awkward angle.

“I’m sorry, Marley.”

86

Jennifer Salaiz

“What in the world is all this talk about wolves? Has she really lost it? I mean, no sane person walks around talking about wolves as people. That’s ridiculous.”

“Please excuse us,” Zachary said angrily.

Marley was pulled out of Cole’s room and into theirs. As soon as her husband slammed the door shut her anger only intensified. She looked at Cole, and he quickly let go of her. Without thought, she advanced forward.

“I can’t believe you’re not going to believe me. You’re my husband, Zachary!”

He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. “Listen to yourself, Marley. Josephine is not a wolf. I can’t believe you accused her of it.

You could have blown our cover. You’re in shock from the events you witnessed. I think you need to take a shower and try to calm down.”

“I fucking smelled her. How she’s containing her smell, I don’t know,” Marley growled, “but the moment she lied to me, I knew it. I could sense her lies. Her skin let off some kind of odd scent. I’m telling you the truth. I may be in shock, but I am thinking clearer than I ever have.”

“Zachary, I think we should listen to her. She was right about before, and I believe her. Josephine smiled when she was called a wolf. You were looking at Marley at the time so I know you didn’t see it, but I did, and I don’t trust her.”

Quickly, Marley spun around to look at him. “You saw that,” she whispered. “Oh, God, Cole, I thought I was the only one. Thank you for believing me.” She ran into his arms, placing her cheek against his chest.

“I can’t think,” Zachary said, sliding down the door, resting his head in his hands. “Marley, maybe you should take over the pack for now. I…”

Quickly, she rushed to her husband’s side. “Look at me. You are not handing your responsibilities over to me. We just have to work as
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