Werewolf in Alaska: A Wild About You Novel (26 page)

“Awesome.” Lionel added the siren to the mix, and cars pulled over even quicker.

Jake slammed the pedal down and turned the big V8 loose. The truck screamed down the highway. Apparently luck was smiling on them, because they didn’t pass a single cop car as they hurtled along. Jake factored in the speed of the SUV compared with his speed, and when he thought they might be getting close, he told Lionel to keep an eye out for a black SUV.

“We might see more than one, you know,” Lionel said.

“I guess.” Jake thought about that. “But I have a feeling I’m going to know it when we see it.” He couldn’t explain the emotion burning in his chest, but the closer he got to Rachel, the hotter the flame. Those bastards had Rachel. He would stop at nothing to get her back.

From the moment Rachel had made telepathic contact with Jake, she’d had trouble sitting still. She knew he was coming for her. She could feel it.

She almost felt sorry for the two werewolves in the front seat. They had no idea what they were dealing with. Their pursuer had faced down a grizzly to keep her safe. Taking on a couple of thugs like them would be a piece of cake.

When she heard the siren and turned to see the flashing light on the top of Jake’s black truck, she had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing and shouting for joy. Now,
this
was what she called a rescue!

Mitch glanced in his side-view mirror. “What the fuck is that idiot doing?”

He’s coming for you,
Rachel thought with barely controlled glee.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.

“Just pull over and let him go by,” Karl said. “He’s probably drunk.”

“Yeah, probably is,” Mitch said. “These backcountry types love to tie one on, don’t they?” He swung the SUV to the side of the road. “Go around, idiot!”

The black truck didn’t go around. Instead it pulled up behind the SUV, its big engine rumbling. The siren stopped screeching and the emergency light switched off.

“Mitch,” Karl said in a low voice. “I think you’d be wise to get the hell out of here. I smell a Were in that truck.”

“When you’re right, you’re right.” Mitch gunned it, but the SUV didn’t get very far. Two shots rang out. Mitch started swearing as the car swerved, its two rear tires blown out.

Mitch pulled the SUV to the shoulder and looked over at Karl. “You ready to fight Jake Hunter?”

“Was that in the contract?”

“Not the one I read.”

Rachel unlatched her seat belt and turned to watch Jake and Lionel get out of the truck. Maybe it was her imagination, but they seemed to radiate power as they approached the SUV, like a couple of gunslingers from the Old West.

Karl turned to look, too. “One’s human.”

“Yeah, and he’s carrying a rifle. That’s not good.”

“You armed, Mitch?”

“Not me. How about you, Karl?”

“You know I hate the things.”

Mitch sighed. “Then how about we give them the woman and call a towing service?”

“That’s not going to make us very popular.”

Mitch glanced in the side-view mirror one more time. “Hey, their plan didn’t work! Is that our fault? You know the rap sheet on Hunter. He challenged a grizz not long ago. And won. Personally, I don’t care to tangle with him.”

“Me, either.” Karl unsnapped his seat belt and opened his door. “Hey, don’t shoot! You can have her! We surrender!”

As Rachel scrambled out of the car, she realized two things. All Weres weren’t as courageous as Jake, and from this moment on, he’d have to pry her away from his side with a crowbar. Whether he wanted her or not, she was his forever.

“Put your hands over your heads!” Lionel shouted, pointing his rifle alternately at Mitch and Karl. “This gun’s loaded, and I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you.”

“I can testify to that,” Jake said. “Come on over here, Rachel.”

She didn’t have to be asked twice. Running to him, she accepted the protection of being tucked firmly against his side while he kept his attention on Mitch and Karl. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“Don’t mention it.” He held her so tight, she wondered if he’d cut off the circulation in her arm. And he was trembling. He’d managed to intimidate the two werewolves who’d abducted her, but he was vibrating from the residual fear. For that matter, so was she.

Even so, his voice was steady as he spoke to her captors. “We’ll leave with Rachel now. Want us to call a tow truck for you?”

“We’ll handle that,” Mitch said.

“Up to you.” Jake took a deep breath. “You might want to reconsider your choice of friends.”

“Trust me,” Karl said. “I’m already doing that.”

“Good. Come on, Rachel. We’re done here.”

Lionel kept his rifle at the ready. “You two get in the truck. I’ll keep these idiots covered until you beep the horn.”

“Thanks, Lionel.” Jake gave Rachel a squeeze. “Let’s go home.”

“Do you mean that?”

He hustled her toward the truck. “I do. In every sense of the word. I’m never leaving you again.”

Her heart soared. Maybe getting kidnapped wasn’t such a bad thing if it could convince the love of her life that he belonged by her side.

Once they were all in the cab, with Rachel wedged between Lionel and Jake, Lionel was full of questions. “I never did ask why somebody would take Rachel in the first place. I mean, who were those guys? They seemed to know who you were, Jake.”

Rachel decided she’d better take the lead on this one. “I got some info while I was in the SUV. They thought if they kidnapped me, eventually I’d cave and empty my bank account to buy my freedom.”

Lionel considered that. “I suppose that makes sense, but how did you figure that out, Jake?”

“When I saw the note Rachel had supposedly written, I knew they’d decided to use me as part of the scheme. I’d planned to move back to Idaho to be with my extended family, and the kidnappers made it look like Rachel had gone with me, to throw everybody off until they were ready to make their demands.”

“That’s what I get for being a little bit too rich and famous,” Rachel said. “I’m going to be much more vigilant from now on.” She hoped the story would pass muster with Lionel, because he must never find out the truth. She didn’t want him to be put under house arrest for the rest of his life.

“So are you going to Idaho, Mr. Hunter?”

“No, not anymore. I realized my life is here, with Rachel.” He reached over and laced his fingers through hers.

She adored Lionel and was incredibly touched that he’d come along to help facilitate the rescue. But she had so much to say to Jake that couldn’t be said. She’d have to wait until they were alone and hope she didn’t explode from frustration in the meantime.

The rest of the trip home was filled with a recap of the exciting chase and the satisfying ending. Lionel had obviously had the time of his life and could hardly wait to share his hero status with his friends and family.

Rachel blessed that urge, because when they pulled into the parking space near her cabin, Lionel was fidgeting in his eagerness to leave.

“I’m really glad you’re home safe, Miss M,” he said as he stood with his gadgets piled in his arms. Jake held his rifle for him.

“Lionel, I can’t ever thank you enough for coming to my rescue.”

He beamed at her. “You had to know I would. Jake and I, we knew we’d get you back. It was a given.”

“It was.” Standing on tiptoe, she kissed Lionel on the cheek. “Now go party. You deserve it.”

He blushed. “Thanks.”

“Oh, and Lionel . . . do you happen to know any women who might be interested in Ted Haggerty?”

“Mr. Haggerty? He likes being single! He said so a bunch of times.”

“Well, he’s not quite as happy as he wants us to think.”

Lionel nodded. “All right, then. I’ll ask around. See you in the morning, okay?”

“You bet.” Rachel gazed at him with fondness. “By the way, is your carving in the woodshop?”

“Oh, yeah. I left it there. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

“I may pay it a visit before then.”

“Aw, you don’t have to do that, Miss M. You and Mr. Hunter probably need . . . well, you know.”

Jake wrapped an arm around Rachel. “We can take time to look at your art, Lionel.”

Rachel didn’t think she could love Jake any more, but that comment made her full to the bursting point.

“Well, see you two later.” Lionel dumped his gadgets in the passenger seat, took the rifle from Jake, and climbed into his truck. With a wave, he drove away.

Rachel sighed and leaned her head against Jake’s shoulder. “Oh, my God.”

“Yeah.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go see Lionel’s carving. If we don’t do it now, we’ll forget.”

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. “Okay.” No one else had understood the dreams she had for Lionel, but Jake did. After a short walk through the midday sun, they stood in the workshop, arms wrapped around each other as they gazed at the piece of wood that she’d given Lionel to carve.

She’d wondered if Lionel would choose to carve wolves because she did. But no. He’d wisely decided to take a different path. In his carving, a majestic eagle soared over a rugged mountain range. The rush of freedom he’d caught in the eagle’s flight took her breath away.

“It’s good,” Jake said.

“It is.” She tightened her hold on him. “Very good. He’s going to make it as an artist.”

Jake was quiet for a moment. “I’m glad I’ll be here to see it happen.”

She glanced up at him, so afraid that his choice would be painful for him, at least in the beginning. “Will you become a pariah because of me?”

His gaze was filled with love. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t give a damn. But I won’t. If there’s one thing werewolves understand, it’s the importance of finding a soul mate. I’ll have to eat some crow when I admit that my soul mate turned out to be you, a human female, and WARM will take a big hit.”

“I hate that. It was your baby.”

“I know, but thanks to this humbling experience with you, I realize the concept was too limiting. I have to expand my thinking, and there will be those who criticize me for changing my mind, but . . . it’s a small price to pay for being able to love you for the rest of my life.”

“What about the Hunters?”

A shadow crossed his features. “I’ll have to deal with them, no question. They’ve hooked up with some fringe group called the Consortium, and I’ll have to report that to the Were Council.”

“They don’t want me to live in your world.”

“No.” His jaw tightened. “But they’re renegades. I’ll protect you with my life, and so will those who support our nonviolent heritage, which is most of us. Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You’ll be safe from the likes of them.”

“But your life is more complicated because of me.”

He laughed in that low, intimate way she loved. “Of course it is. I’ll have hell to pay, and MacDowell will be insufferable. But you’re worth it.” Still holding her, he turned so that they were face-to-face. “I humbly ask you, Rachel Miller, if you will consent to be my mate.”

She looked into those green eyes, knowing that they were the eyes of a creature she only partly understood. But she knew his heart, and it belonged to her. She didn’t intend to give in quite that easily, however. After all, he had recently rejected her on the basis of her human genes. “It’s a thought. I’ve always wanted a wolf of my own.”

“You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” She smiled up at him. “You spurned me before, so now you’ll have to work to win me over.”

“Rescuing you from the kidnappers wasn’t enough?”

She laughed. “It was a start.”

“My God, you’re issuing a challenge!”

“Are you up to it?”

He gave her a slow, easy smile filled with all the confidence of a sexy werewolf alpha. “Yes, my love, I am.”

Everyone in Vegas who’d heard about tonight’s poker game said Luke Dalton was crazy. As he sat across the table from Benedict Cartwright in a staged venue that provided room for two hundred paid spectators, Luke briefly questioned his own sanity. But regardless of the game’s outcome, the status quo would change, and that was all he cared about.

He’d challenged Benedict to this winner-take-all poker game—the deed to Luke’s Silver Crescent Casino against the deed to Cartwright’s neighboring bar, Howlin’ at the Moon. The casino was worth twenty times more than the bar, but the Moon was a Cartwright family treasure, a Vegas landmark built thirty years ago by Harrison Cartwright, Benedict’s late father.

Luke lived in the Silver Crescent’s penthouse, which meant he had to lay eyes on that damned bar every single day and be reminded that Harrison Cartwright had driven Luke’s dad, Angus, to his grave. Angus had died just last Christmas Day, thrusting Luke abruptly into the position of CEO of Dalton Industries.

The feud between Angus and Harrison must have taken its toll on both men, because Harrison had died a week later, on New Year’s Eve. For three long months, Luke had struggled with the pain of living next to a Cartwright property. Tonight he’d either win it, and maybe even bulldoze the building, or he’d lose the Silver Crescent and change his place of residence. Either way worked for him, but he’d prefer to win.

They’d been at it for almost two hours, with the piles of chips shifting back and forth across the table. Cartwright, whose blond good looks made him a favorite with the ladies, had just won a hand that put him up a little. But he looked tired.

Luke experienced an unwelcome flash of empathy for a guy who’d also just lost his dad. Benedict’s twin brother, Vaughn, older by two minutes and a born leader, had inherited the bulk of the Cartwright holdings, which had surprised no one. Benedict, the happy-go-lucky brother, had been given the bar, which also had surprised no one.

Benedict was a natural at bar ownership and business was booming. But he’d also eagerly accepted Luke’s challenge, which made Luke wonder if Benedict was sick of looking at the Silver Crescent and being reminded of the feud that had likely hastened his own father’s death.

It hadn’t always been this way between the two families. Angus Dalton and Harrison Cartwright had once been friendly competitors who’d enjoyed weekly poker games. Their fortunes had grown and so had the stakes. They’d started betting real estate.

They’d regularly traded Vegas properties and neither had seemed to worry about it much. The families had socialized. As a teenager, Luke had shot hoops with Benedict and Vaughn.

But one night, Angus and Harrison must have become bored with their usual wagers. That’s all anyone could figure, since Harrison had taken a dare and bet his premier holding, the Silver Crescent. He’d lost.

Harrison Cartwright had loved that casino more than any of his establishments except for Howlin’ at the Moon. For the first time in their long history, Harrison had accused Angus of cheating. Enraged by the accusation, Angus had vowed never to play with his old rival again, which meant Harrison couldn’t win back his beloved casino.

What followed had become Vegas legend. Harrison had tried every trick in the book to avoid turning over the deed. The legal battle had been long and costly on both sides. In the end, Angus had been awarded the casino and had asked the judge to throw in the bar, too, as compensation for his pain and suffering. The judge had refused.

As the dealer shuffled the cards in preparation for the next hand, Luke glanced toward the group of onlookers who supported him, which represented about half the crowd. His little sister, Cynthia, had shown up. Although he appreciated the support, he couldn’t look at his brilliant, beautiful sister without gnashing his teeth. She should be finishing her final semester at Yale right now.

He understood that grief over their dad’s death had sidelined her, but he couldn’t even get her to promise she’d go back in the fall. She was on track to graduate magna cum laude, for crying out loud.

Yet she was ready to abandon her studies and become a Vegas showgirl, instead. On top of that, for the past month she’d been hanging out with Bryce Landry, a high-stakes gambler from ’Frisco. Landry was with her now, in fact. Whenever Luke thought about his little sister throwing away a promising future, he felt sick to his stomach.

He had no clue how to convince her to finish school, either. His mother was no help. Her grief had been so profound she couldn’t bear to stay in Vegas, or even in the States, so she was currently living in Provence.

Taking a slow, even breath, he scooped up his hand and glanced at it. He kept his expression blank as the betting began. Nothing in his behavior indicated that he had aces over kings. Even better, the cards in his hand denied Cartwright the possibility of a royal flush.

He played the hand carefully, reeling it in slowly, and finally Luke shoved all his chips to the center of the table. “All in.” Benedict Cartwright was going down. The sharp pang of empathy struck again. He forced himself to ignore it.

Benedict’s brother, Vaughn, wasn’t part of the large crowd that had gathered for the match. The word on the street was that Vaughn had tried to talk Benedict out of accepting this challenge, even though on paper it was a chance worth taking.

Only a slight twitch in Benedict’s right eyelid betrayed his nervousness as he pushed his chips forward. “Call.” He laid out three queens and two kings. Not bad. He was right to play it. But it wasn’t enough. Howlin’ at the Moon now belonged to Luke Dalton. He laid his cards on the table.

For one long, agonizing moment, his gaze collided with Benedict’s. The shock and pain in his adversary’s eyes was tough to see, and Luke looked away again. He didn’t want to know how bad this was for the guy. But he was afraid that look of devastation would haunt him, at least for a while.

After a collective gasp from the crowd, the mood shifted. Some cheered, and others cursed and called for a rematch. Luke shook his head. He had what he wanted, a change in the status quo.

In the midst of the chaotic scene, he heard something odd—a distinct and very canine snarl. Maybe someone had brought a service dog into the room, but he couldn’t see an animal anywhere. Yeah, maybe he was going crazy, after all.