Trapped Between Two Alphas (10 page)

“I
can’t protect her without you,” Matt said. “It kills me to put her down, but we
need to leave her to fight for our pack. These men are not going to stop.”

Glancing
all around them he saw his pack weakening. None of them had been prepared for
an attack. Why had the humans picked now to attack? They had all gone to the
forest to see their woman change.

“They’re
going to die. They need us.”

Kris
had no choice but to put Cynthia down and fight. He lowered her to the ground,
kissed her head, and charged at the crowd of men.

Ignoring
the pain in his back Kris changed into his wolf taking down the three men
shooting at Leonard. All the time he fought, he couldn’t stop thinking about
Cynthia. He didn’t understand why the humans were attacking now and when
Cynthia was about to change.

When
he’d released Leonard he glanced back to see Cynthia on the ground. Her body
moved with the change. No human had approached her, and for that he was happy.

I love you, baby. Come back to us.

He
fought his way through the crowd. None of the men were going to survive when he
was through with them.

One
of the hunters killed his kind, and Kris stumbled in his attack. The moment one
of his own died he felt it as if he’d been struck with the killing blow.

Some
of the men started to run away.

Outraged
by their invasion Kris chased after them, intent on clawing them to pieces.

****

Matt
felt his pack behind him as he charged at the men. The amount of hunters
startled him. He didn’t like the way they’d sneaked up on him. Cynthia’s change
was important to him. What did the humans want? The only way this number of men
would be brave enough to attack was if they had someone working for them.

He
snarled as a bullet struck his thigh. They had a mixture of silver and normal
bullets. He watched as Kris charged past the clearing. Glancing around him in
wolf form, he saw several of his men laid dead on the ground.

They
were taking his men from him. Pushing the anger aside he charged after Kris. He
wouldn’t allow his friend to die. Over the hill he saw the nets designed to
catch bears. Kris was wrapped up in one. The humans were better prepared than
Matt would have anticipated.

Walking
down slowly he eased his way to Kris. Using his claws he tore the net. Kris
fell to the ground and changed into human form.

Before
any of them could react a blanket of fire covered the hill, surrounding him,
Kris, and some of their pack. Matt changed back to human the instant the fire
started and looked at the fire that surrounding them. The smoke would ruin
their nostrils in wolf form.

“We’re
trapped,” Leonard said.

Matt
did a quick count to see half of each of their packs was caught in the trap.

Looking
around him, Matt assessed the situation. The men looked panicked.

“We
need to change back and jump over,” Matt said.

“If
we change the fire will ruin our scents. We can’t risk that. We rely too much
on our sense of smell,”
Arnold
said.

“Would
you rather lose your sense of smell or fucking die?” Without waiting for an
answer Matt changed into wolf and jumped over the fire. Surviving the ambush
and getting to Cynthia were more important than his sense of smell.

The
fire clogged his nostrils filling them with soot and the burn.

Turning
back to wolf as he collapsed on the dirt he waited for the other men to jump.
All of them joined him and turned back to human.

Arnold
wiped his nose in disgust. “We did what we had to do.”

Matt
got to his feet. The forest was bare. He frowned. “Where’s Cynthia?” Before
anyone could respond he and Kris charged in the direction of her body. Cynthia
was no longer there. The humans must have taken her.

“No,
no, no, no, no!” Kris yelled the words.

On
the ground where they’d left her was a patch of blood. They collapsed on the
patch. Kris ran his hands over the blood.

“I
can’t tell if it’s hers or not.”

Matt
watched as Kris sank his fingers into his hair pulling on the length.

“No.”
His face turned red with anger.

Touching
the spot Matt glanced out at the trees. “They knew where to find us. How did
they know how to find us?” There were no answers to his questions. Nothing made
sense, the ambush, the humans, them taking Cynthia, didn’t make sense to him.
The humans had gotten away in the time they’d been trapped by the fire.

Matt
couldn’t make sense of it. One moment they were changing Cynthia into a wolf
and in the next they were attacked. They attacked back, only to be trapped by
the fire that surrounded them. Why had the humans attacked them and separated
them? The hunters had separated them, but why?

“I
don’t give a fuck. She’s gone, you fucking bastard.” Kris charged at him.

Matt
ended up on his back with Kris’s hand around his neck.

“If
she’s gone I’ll fucking kill you,” Kris said. His words came out as a snarl.

Grabbing
the hand around his neck Matt threw him off, their hatred coming back in full
force.

What
did it mean?

He
prayed she wasn’t dead.

“I’ve
got something to do.”

Chapter
Ten

Kris
watched Matt run to the house. Leonard stood over him offering a hand. They
were all naked.

“Thanks.”
He took off in the direction of Matt’s house. His anger wasn’t necessary. They
needed to find Cynthia. Matt clearly remembered something. Kris caught up with
the other man easily enough.

“I
won’t accept her death. I refuse to.” Matt charged into the house going
straight to his office.

The
men followed behind him. Some of the packs were collecting their dead from the
forest. Kris wanted to howl at the unfairness of it all. Instead he watched
Matt grab the phone and dial a number.

“What
are you doing?” Kris asked.

“They
knew where we were. They knew what we were doing, and they fucking covered
their scent. How long do you think they’ve been planning that attack? I’ve
never known a human to be able to do what they just did.” Matt listened to the
ringing.

“They’ve
taken down several wolves, Matt.”

Turning
to his friend he glared at them. “No, they’ve taken down the odd one or so
fucking wolves, but never a whole pack, let alone two. They knew too fucking
much, and I want to know why.”

Kris
waited for Matt to put the call to speaker-phone. He wanted to hear the
conversation.

“Hello.”
Daniel answered. His pack was over a hundred miles north of them.

“Daniel,
the man that was taken from you by the hunters, have you found his body?”

When
Matt had been making calls about Cynthia he’d remembered that Daniel had been
missing a pack member for some time. Kris also recalled the other man
mentioning it to him. If they hurt Cynthia all of the hunters were going to die,
and he’d be the one to see to it. She was too damn fragile. What would they
accomplish with her? She wasn’t worth hunting.

“What?
What’s this about?” Daniel asked.

“We
were attacked on our own land. They took out several of our men, Daniel, and
they’ve taken my mate. She was in the middle of the change. I need answers.
Every other pack has found one of their men they’ve lost. All
except
you.”

He
heard the other man moving around over the line.

“The
man who was attacked had a mate. We haven’t found the mate or him, Matt.”

Glancing
over at Matt, Kris saw he had his answer.

Slamming
the phone down Matt ruffled his hair.

“What
are you thinking?” Kris asked. He felt anger pool inside his gut. Humans had
Cynthia, and he didn’t even know if she’d survived the transition.

“Someone
knew about us. Daniel knew where to find us, and every wolf knows where to find
a pack. We’re safer together than roaming alone. The man who was taken has a
mate. I’m thinking these humans are using them to find us.”

It
couldn’t be true. No wolf would give up the location of a pack. Kris spoke his
doubts aloud.

“If
they were torturing Cynthia wouldn’t you give away everything you knew to keep
her safe?” Matt asked.

Kris
wouldn’t even hesitate. “We need to find her.”

They
walked out together. Their fallen men lay on the ground lifeless. Kris saw
their bodies, and they brought tears to his eyes.

His
men had died trying to protect him and his mate. Glancing at the forest he
inhaled. The distant scents invaded him. He hadn’t lost his sense of smell.

It
was time these hunters knew who they were dealing with.

****

Cynthia
moaned as her eyes opened. Her body hurt all over.

“It
hurts,” she said. Cynthia rolled over on the small bed. Her head felt like
someone had taken a hammer to it. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling
before her. The light was too bright. Closing her eyes she heard the buzzing of
the light.

Frowning,
Cynthia became alerted to a hell of a lot more. She heard the sound of a cat
meowing in the distance, followed by a man filing a knife. Turning her head she
saw a mouse in the corner padding its way back to its nest.

“The
she-beast is awake,” a man said.

She
jumped back as she became aware of the cage she’d been locked in. Her body was
naked, and then she remembered everything that had happened to her.

“She
looks frightened, Frank. Are you sure she’s a wolf?” the man asked.

“You
saw what those men did to her. I’d step away from the cage if I was you. She
would like to kill you given the chance.”

Cynthia
glanced down at her hands and then at her naked body. She was different. This
wasn’t her body. Her hair had grown down to her waist. The blonde length looked
vibrant. Her hair had never looked vibrant. Pressing a palm to her neck she
felt the pulse beating hard and strong against her palm.

She
hadn’t felt this healthy and strong since she was a child.

“What
has happened to me?” she asked.

The
man by the cage moved aside, showing her another man sitting at a table filing
his knife.

“You’re
a beast. A rare beast, but you’ll do for what I have planned. You see, some
people pay a lot of money to hunt your kind. You’re the first female wolf I’ve
found, and you’re going up for a lot of money,” Frank said.

She
pressed her back against the wall. This man scared her. The scent of death
filled her nostrils, but it was tangible. The man in front of her was a killer,
and she knew instinctively that she couldn’t trust him.

“I
don’t know what’s going on.”

“Those
bastard animals didn’t tell you?”

They’re talking about Kris and Matt.

Are they okay?

They’d
bitten her, but she knew in her gut they were trying to do something to save
her.

She
shook her head.

Think, Cynthia, think. They wouldn’t
have left you out in the forest.

Frank
gripped the bars doing exactly the opposite of what he’d told the other man.

His
scent made her sneeze.

“The
men you were fucking turned you. They took a bite out of you and then fed you
their blood. Feel your neck. Their distinctive marks are there.”

She
touched her neck feeling the marks he spoke of.

“A
mated female costs a lot of money. That’s what I do. The men I work for want to
hunt the creatures that don’t exist.”

Cynthia
remembered what her men had said about their parents’ death. At the time they
had said they’d died of a hunting accident. Staring at the man before her she
knew he was the reason.

“You
killed them.” She pressed a hand to her mouth. Her dire situation dawned on
her.

Frank
grabbed a seat and sat next to the cages. “You’re a clever one, and I’ve got
time, so I’m going to give you the low-down. What I do is get approached by men
who grow bored of hunting the normal beasts. You
know,
deer, bear, and all the other crap. I go out and capture the were-beasts. I’ve
got a knack for hunting them.” He stopped to chuckle. “Actually I’ve got two of
the beasts. A mated pair chained to the wall in the basement. The moment I
start hurting his woman he gives up the location of the packs. I have to say
Kris Hall and Matt Stewart are legends. They’re the only two packs who live in close
to harmony with each other. I’ve seen what happens when two wolves from
different packs are plunged together.
Very ugly and bloody.”