The Hunted (73 page)

He was my Alpha.

I found myself stepping backwards, but I was unable to turn and run like my head was commanding. All I could do was stare at the approaching wolves. I was completely mesmerised by John’s size and power; his total domination over the other wolves, his supremacy, rolled from his frame in continuous waves. Even the forest itself was silenced by his presence. There was a look about him that could not be denied.

I briefly looked back at Kate. Her mouth was still slightly upturned in that ghastly smile of self-satisfaction. I felt sick to my stomach. I had been led astray so easily! Even my nose had told me that her blood smelt all wrong, so why couldn’t I have trusted myself not to walk willingly into a trap?

This Kate was not the poor girl I’d witnessed dying in the living room. I had seen the light leave her body and her life extinguished, yet I had still refused to see the truth.

I shook my head. It was too late now.

Kate turned around to look at me, her smile brightening as she shimmered, her body morphing into another human form.

Her limbs expanded and lengthened, her hair changing colour and length as her skin changed pallor. The once soft femininity of her curves filled out and hardened into Greg in human form.

William had warned me that they could morph into anyone they had ever tasted, but I had disregarded that information as easily as I had disregarded my intuition. How foolish that had made me look now.

‘Thanks for the escort,’ Greg said snidely, taking a few steps towards me. Matching his stride, I stepped backwards.

‘Where are you going?’ he said, laughing. ‘There’s nowhere for you to run to.’

I knew that he was right, but my legs continued backwards regardless. I had done this dance before and knew that the backwards shuffle was no more an answer than running away was. But still, I couldn’t resist the urge.

I briefly shifted my attention from Greg. The other wolves began to sniff at the air with barely concealed interest, their giant snouts raised upwards, muzzles pulled back to reveal rows of sharp, pointed teeth. They snapped at the scent as if trying to taste it with their tongues.

I too focused my senses, wondering, but daring not to hope that maybe William might have found me.

I drew in a breath, drawing the cool night air deeply down into my lungs and inhaling any scents that might be mingling with the prevailing winds. I smelt something but I wasn’t sure what. There was spice, for certain, and a slight citrus tang but that did not mean it was the smell of my salvation. I had to rely on myself to get out of this.

I started briefly when all five wolves whipped their heads back into the air and howled simultaneously.

Something or someone is definitely coming.

As I continued my backpedalling, I watched as Greg turned his full attention back to his pack, sniffing at the air in excitement, seemingly forgetting about me. I took my chance and spun on my heels, and ran back down the path. I knew deep down that the action was futile.

An angry snarl came from behind me, but I kept on running regardless. I could kill one, maybe two if I was lucky, but I was no match for six.

I gasped as John leapt in front of me, his paws thudding against the hardened earth, his claws scrunching against dried twigs and leaves as he lowered himself into a predatory crouch. I started a brand new backwards dance, my pounding heart keeping rhythmic time with my moving feet, and the short, sharp gasps of breathing.

He growled loudly and I froze, knowing that if I moved another inch it was likely I’d have my head torn off. As I slowed, I watched the wolf in front of me shape-shift back into his chosen human form.

It was different to watching them change into wolves or other humans. When the so-called ‘pizza boy’ had attacked me and transformed at my house, his body and skin had ripped apart allowing for the creature inside of him to be released. But John transforming back into human looked a lot gentler.

The hair of the wolf simply fell off John’s body, his limbs beginning to shrink and change slowly back into arms and legs. Then his spine straightened and he stood, his skin changing from the greyish hue of the wolf into the more subtle pink of human flesh. His muscles shaped themselves into sinuous curves of strength and virility, over his torso, thighs, and upper arms. John’s skin stretched and moved to create a perfect covering for each portion of his lean, hard body.

I licked my lips.

His obsidian-coloured eyes changed from the soulless depths of midnight to brown, and then finally settled on mint green. The fangs lining his muzzle shrunk and retreated into his jaw, human teeth now hidden by soft, sensuous lips.

He straightened up, hitching his shoulders towards his ears, slowly rolling them back until his spine cracked. He flexed his neck from side to side, cracking it sharply. Then his eyes settled upon me.

I shivered slightly as I felt his alpha-scent roll over me, as he beckoned me with his hand for me to come to him.

No frigging way.

‘Elena, are you going to make this hard or easy?’

‘Which one would piss you off more?’

He shook his head and reluctantly smiled, reaching out to touch my face. I shrunk away from him. ‘I do love your spirit, Elena,’ he continued, ‘but now is not the time to irritate me.’

‘Shall we continue in let’s say … five minutes then?’ I said sarcastically.

He closed the distance between us in an instant and pulled me tightly against his hard, naked body. ‘You will watch your tongue, Elena,’ he whispered into my ear, ‘or I’ll bite it off.’

I swallowed, saying nothing.

‘Good girl,’ John purred to me in his alpha tones, his hot breath on my cheek, his hands running down my back and cupping my bottom in heated possession. ‘Now go and join the pack, and stand very still and do exactly as I tell you to do.’ He released me and I turned around reluctantly, mechanically walking towards the five awaiting wolves even though my head was screaming a chorus of protests.

He slapped my behind as I walked—I wanted to turn around and throttle him, but I couldn’t. The pull of his authority weighed down on me, as heavy as a tone of bricks. It was as if all free will had been taken from me and my body now operated robotically, functioning on autopilot.

I stopped a little way away from the other wolves, not wanting to get close to any of their razor-sharp fangs. Who were all of these wolves anyway? I knew which ones were John and Greg, and I had killed Adam, so who were the other four and where did they come from? William had said five had travelled from London. So, if my calculations were correct, Adam must have been spawned here. I’d killed two in Brisbane, and the vampires also claimed one themselves, which left two originals—John and Greg. So, including Adam, John had birthed a further five wolves since arriving on Australian shores.

I looked back at John.
This guy seriously needed to be neutered.

The wolves tilted their snouts to the air and howled again. ‘Calm yourselves, children,’ John said, circling his arms around my waist from behind and pulling me intimately against him.

I’m totally going to kill him when this alpha command wears off
.

‘They will be arriving soon. I can smell them in the air.’

‘Who’s arriving soon?’ I said as he nuzzled his face in the side of my neck. God strike me down, but it felt good.

He licked at the flesh behind my ear and then chewed teasingly on my lobe, running his fingers across the bare flesh of my stomach. I tried to ignore the rising heat in my body, but it was difficult. ‘John?’ I persisted. ‘Who is coming?’

‘Hmm?’ he murmured against my throat. His fingers brushed across the top of my pants and dipped ever so slightly underneath the rim of denim.

My knees buckled under his touch and he swept me closer to him, so tight that I could feel his need for me against my back.

‘John!’ I snapped, barely breathing. He may have control over my body, but he certainly held no sway over my mouth and mind.

Well, unless he tells me what to say.

‘Your boyfriend draws near,’ he replied, still distracted by my scent and body.

I wanted to tell him that William was
not
my boyfriend, merely a curiosity at this stage, but I couldn’t figure out how that would actually help the situation, so I just went with it.

‘Then I suggest you stop touching me before he rips your head off.’

He chuckled throatily in my ear. ‘There are seven of us and only two of them. Your boyfriend will care very little
for where my hands have been when he’s being torn apart limb from limb.’

My heart sank. John could only smell William and Thomas. Did that mean that The Protectors weren’t coming? Had something happened to Lucas?

Hang on-did he just say seven of them? John, Greg and the four others, that’s six. Ha! He doesn’t realise that Adam isn’t coming.

He dipped his head back to my neck again, his tongue teasing at my throbbing jugular. ‘I hope you’re not expecting Adam anytime soon,’ I said, my knees still quaking from his touch.

John lifted his head from my neck. ‘Why?’

‘I think you’ll find poor Adam is feeling a little bent out of shape.’

Well, more like broken, but you get the point.

He straightened up, his hands stiffening against the flat planes of my stomach. ‘What are you talking about?’

I resisted the urge to laugh as the other wolves turned, looking at me expectantly. ‘He’s dead.’

A deep growl resonated in the back of his throat. ‘You lie. I personally instructed Adam to open your cell door so that you would think you had escaped. He was to open the door and then let you leave.’

I frowned. ‘Why would you tell him to do that?’

‘You have killed three of my pack members and have even wounded
me
. Getting you to come here of your own free will was far simpler than getting Adam and Greg to drag you here kicking and screaming.’

My eyes narrowed as a thought began to occur to me. ‘Why didn’t you just order me to follow you here?’

He shook his head. ‘I was busy. I didn’t have time to babysit you.’

My eyes narrowed further in suspicion. ‘It would have taken a few seconds to implant the suggestion. Don’t tell me you were too busy to make life easier on yourself?’

He didn’t answer, but a small throaty growl told me I was pushing the subject, so of course, I pushed. ‘Unless there’s another reason? Something that might make you appear weak in the eyes of your pack mates?’

He growled again, spittle landing on the side of my cheek. I ignored the projectile, focusing instead on the errant thoughts coming together in my head. Logic dictated luring me here via his directive would have been easier, but he’d said it was an inconvenience to accompany me. Did that mean he needed to be in close proximity for the alpha command to stay effective? It would make sense since I was half vampire and even compulsion was not one hundred percent effective on me. If that were the case, it was good information to know and something I was going to keep to myself until I could test the theory.

I changed the subject, deciding to make him feel insecure about the impending fight rather than figuring out I was on to him.

‘Guess it’s just the six of you then,’ I said, triumphant. ‘Sucks to be you.’

‘No, actually, it sucks to be you.’ He lowered his mouth to my neck and bit down hard on my flesh.

I moaned in pain, in shock, as his teeth punctured my tender flesh, my lifeblood spilling down my neck and into his waiting mouth. He suckled my skin greedily, a fresh wave of commanding scent blanketing my skin, forcing me into easy submission.