Red Run (2 page)

Her captor spoke and soon men were in wolf form all around her. She was tugged to the ground and they surrounded her on all sides, waves of heat coming to her from all angles.

When her shivers ceased her sense of self-preservation came roaring forward, she tried to get away from the living fur covering that was all around her.

“Hold still, Miss. Take in the heat that they offer you.” One of the
patrol
was standing nearby, he had a cup in his hand. “Drink this, Miss.”

The hot beverage was tempting and after she worked an arm free, she guided the hand that held the cup to her lips. It was a tea, strange and
floral,
it rippled through her body with enticing heat. The shivers slowed to a dull chill that evaporated under the ministrations of the wolves and patrol.

A low growl came from the wolf lying against her torso and she looked down into dark gold eyes.

As she met his animal gaze his body lengthened and shifted against hers. It was disconcerting to be facing a man lying on his side against her where a wolf had been a moment before. She couldn’t decide which one was more dangerous, the man or the beast. She really didn’t want to find out.

Despite his origins on a planet far from this one, his body seemed to align itself with hers quite naturally. The body was familiarly male and if his species reacted like hers did, their proximity was causing some interest on his part. Sophie froze as a heated bar of flesh was pressed to her thigh.

He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “Let’s sit up and get some food into you, Miss. Perhaps you would be willing to tell us why you defied the order to evacuate.”

Her body warmer stood up, hauling her with him and catching her when her spinning head caused her knees to weaken.

The other wolves shifted into their other forms and began a number of domestic tasks around the camp. It seemed the male holding her was the one in control.

He sat on a tree stump near the fire and hauled her onto his lap. “Now, you will tell me who you are and what you are doing here and then you will have some lunch.”

A tugging at her boots made her jump. One of the patrol members was unlacing her boots. “You need to dry your feet, Miss. Only then will you be able to maintain your body temperature.”

Her living chair nodded. “He’s right. It is a miracle that you managed to make it this far.
Now, your name?”

She looked up into those hypnotic gold eyes and swallowed. “Sophie. Sophie Redding. I am trying to make it to
Northton
to see if my grandmother survived.”

A bowl of something hot was pressed into her hands and she started to eat with unladylike speed. “Why isn’t anyone else eating?”

The man under her laughed. “We eat on the run. These are emergency rations we keep for people in distress.”

One of the other patrolmen grinned.
“Women’s food.”

If Sophie hadn’t been finished her bowl by then, that description would have stopped her. She looked into the bowl as if she could determine the contents by sight. “What does that mean?”

Her living chair chuckled. “It means that it is much more of an omnivorous food than the males eat.” His warm breath on her neck made her horribly aware of the hard thighs under her own and the broad chest against her side.

“So, your women aren’t…like you?” She looked up and was caught in those golden eyes.

“No, they are similar to human females based on what we have observed. I am Commander
T’bir
by the way.”

She swallowed heavily.
“Commander of what?”

“Of the ground clearing force.
These men report to me.”

The men of the patrol grinned and nodded, then broke down the small camp, washed the dishes and packed up the implements they had used to feed her.

“Why are you here?” Her voice was plaintive.

“Why, my dear Sophie, I followed you.” His grin was her only warning as he leaned down and kissed her, holding her head with fingers threaded through her hair and pulling her into him with his free hand.

Her eyes widened as his mouth came down on hers, his scent enveloped her and the woodsy aroma was mixed with musk and male. He teased her mouth with his and when his fingers tightened against her skull, she parted her lips on a gasp. He teased her open lips with his tongue until she flicked her tongue against his in response.

He groaned and the hand at her waist flexed as he explored her mouth with quick forays of his tongue. Heat pooled in her belly and it was long moments into the kiss when she remembered that his species was kicking hers off their home. She jerked back hard and he let her go.

T’bir’s
face had a feral look, the skin tight across his cheekbones and his eyes glittering. She remained in his grasp, panting for air. “We are not friends, we are not lovers,
we
are not even the same species. We shouldn’t do that.”

A flash of anger ran across his visage and he stood, dumping her to the ground. “Get up and put your boots on. We will go and see your north country and then return you to the holding areas with the rest of your race.”

She froze at the chill in his tone, but scrambled to get her boots on. The patrols were simply gone. There was no trace of them anywhere. Even the fire they had started for her comfort was gone. If her belly wasn’t full, she would think she had imagined the whole thing.

The leather had stiffened next to the fire, but it was still damp as she laced the clammy boots back onto her legs.

When she stood up,
T’bir
grabbed her by one arm and began to unceremoniously haul her through the woods.

Sophie stumbled along next to
T’bir
as they strode through the woods at a frightening speed. She never imagined that the straight line was fastest when there was a forest in the way, but he proved her wrong.

“Why? Why are you making us
leave
?” Her breath was coming in
gasps,
the pace he set was far beyond her ability to maintain.

“This is not your home.” He scowled at her and slowed slightly.

“It isn’t your home either. When the colony ship landed here, they didn’t do it because they wanted to, they were out of fuel and this was the only suitable planet within reach.” Her throat was raw and burning with thirst. “Is there anywhere I can find a drink of water?”

T’bir
looked down at her in surprise. “There is a stream to your right, can’t you smell it?”

She scowled and tugged on his grip. “No, but it would explain why I feel more humidity coming from that direction. Will you let me go?”

He looked at her hand and let go, as if unaware he had been hauling her along.

She took a few careful steps to her right and when the small trickle of water splashed over her boot, she dropped to the ground and lifted a handful of the liquid to her lips. It soothed her and she sighed happily, ignoring the cool breeze that was ruffling her skirt and chilling her thighs.

* * * *

He fought the urge to howl in frustration. The pose she was in was far too close to the
Sethen
prime mating posture for his peace of mind. The wrapping of her dress narrowed her waist, causing the flare of her hips to be exaggerated. Just the kind of target his hands had in mind.

As she drank, he closed his eyes, trying to expunge the image of her hips in his hands and his cock deep inside her. With a desperate growl, he shifted to his four footed form.

He crept up next to her and lapped at the water, inhaling her scent and imprinting it on his memories. Her trail had not done her justice, the vibrancy of her health and vitality came through in the sweet perfume of her flesh.

His wolf form allowed him to examine and be with her without wanting to flip her to her back or thrust into her from behind.
T’bir
had never imagined that he would feel this strongly about a woman he had not been formally introduced to, but something about Sophie Redding called to him.

He nudged her with his head and herded her back to the path. Her thigh was even with his shoulder so it was easy for him to keep her moving.

The patrols flanked them on either side so his prisoner was forced to move along with him. He didn’t know if she was aware of the men a few hundred
metres
to either side, but they were as interested in sniffing out hidden humans as he was.

Their species was becoming more fascinating to him by the second.

* * * *

Sophie struggled along for what seemed like hours and as they broke free of the forest,
Northton
opened in front of her. It was an empty wasteland. No humans were visible anywhere.

Her escort reformed into his speaking form. “Where would your grandmother be?”

With her lower lip trembling, she pointed to a ruin of a home on the outskirts of the town. “Her home should be there.”

She started to walk, then run to the disaster site, her companion hung back as if loathe to disturb her in her grief.

The smell of open air was inside the threshold. Windows were broken and rubble was strewn across the floor. Glass crunched under her boots as she moved from room to room. Her Gran was nowhere to be seen.

In a last desperate attempt to find the woman who raised her, Sophie entered the bedroom and came to a halt at the image that seared itself into her mind.

A huge black wolf was on the bed, licking his fur clean of blood. He looked up and growled as she approached, so Sophie took a step back, and then another. Her heel turned on a chunk of rubble and she ended up on the floor with the wolf coming toward her with his fangs bared.

The eyes of the wolf gleamed with intent as he gathered himself for an attack. She whimpered softly as she tried to push herself back to her feet, but she had only managed to kneel on the skirt that tangled her legs before he was in the air and his fangs were bared for her neck.

A low growl behind her caused tears to prick her eyes.
Two wolves were going to rip her to pieces, she was doomed.

The smoke grey wolf tackled the black in a whirl of fur and fang.

T’bir
may have been irritated with her, but he was coming to her
defence
. She would know that furry tail anywhere.

Sophie got back on her feet and ran. She left her Gran’s house and bolted back into the forest. If
T’bir
was busy with the other
Sethen
, she had a chance to make a break for it.

The branches clawed at her body and clothing, but she kept going, hoping that
T’bir
was all right, but that he would be too wounded to follow her.

* * * *

The younger male was pinned to the floor and
T’bir
growled for the youngling to hold still. When the dark wolf slumped under him, he relaxed and backed off. He shifted to his feet and grabbed the young man by the scruff of his neck. “What are you doing here?”

The male whined, “We didn’t want the patrols having all the fun so we have been hunting some of the humans who refused to be evacuated.”

The blond hair and innocent blue eyes were somewhat marred by the blood smeared across his face and chest.

T’bir
cursed.
“How many of you?”

“A dozen or more.
We slipped out in a few small shuttles and have been harrying the populace.”

T’bir
kept his grip on the young man and shoved him outside. A raised arm brought one of the patrols to his side. “We have one of the rogues. Take him into custody. Where is Sophie?”

The patrol leader grinned. “She’s running through the woods. Two of my men are watching her.”

T’bir
exposed his teeth in a smile that expressed more clearly than anything what he was feeling. Hunting one’s mate was part of
Sethen
courtship and whether she knew it or not, Sophie was waving her tail in his face.

“Collect all humans and rogues in the area. Make a body count for charges. When you send the signal, a skimmer will be dispatched to collect your findings.”

The patrol leader nodded. “You are going after her?”

“Like it or not,
Sethen
or not, she’s mine.” He shrugged and the leader nodded solemnly, it happened.
Sethen
occasionally were spurred to find mates outside their species and when it happened, it was generally considered a good thing. Fresh genes kept their species moving forward.

“Then, before she lets the forest bludgeon her to death, you had best go collect your mate, Commander.”

T’bir
shoved the rogue into the arms of the patrol leader and shifted to his wolf form, howling as the mate hunt truly began.

* * * *

Sophie stopped in place as the howl sounded in the distance. It didn’t chill her, it had the opposite effect, heating her blood and giving her the feeling of arousal that eclipsed her experience. It was like having the air in her vicinity stroke and warm every inch of her body.

Trembling, she stumbled forward, deeper into the darkness of the woods.

* * * *

He could smell blood and aroused female as he chased her. She was close and he was reducing the distance between them with every stride. There was nowhere she could hide that he wouldn’t find her. Her essence was burned into his mind and he would follow her through time itself if he had to.

She was crashing through the brush just ahead of her and he slowed his pace while he stalked her. She was almost to a small clearing and that is where he would make his move.

Sophie would have a choice to
make,
she could either be his, or be sent off with her own people. He was really hoping she followed her instincts because his told him all he needed to know.

* * * *

Sophie stopped short as she entered a clearing with a small stream running through it. She stumbled to the edge of the water and drank her fill. As she raised her head, the sight of
T’bir
sitting casually across from her froze her and warmed her at the same time.