She pulled the microphone back. “So you believe wolves are responsible for the deaths at this ranch?”
“It would make sense. As the packs grow in numbers, they are going to spread outside their existing range inside Yellowstone, looking for food. It’s spring and there are a lot of young livestock which make easy prey. Calving is well under way on ranches throughout the plains, and I think they found an easy and available food source. We had a harsh winter, and the wolves have young pups to feed. The cattle aren’t the only ones giving birth right now.”
“Why do you think they didn’t find any of the wolves at the scene?”
“This is just speculation, but wolves are smart. If the pack is as large as I suspect, it took the ranch hands by surprise. They didn’t have time to grab weapons or even call for help.”
“I understand the remains of several young children were found among the bodies. If they were defending their stock, why were the children outside?”
“Ma’am, many parents who own working ranches have no choice but to take their kids with them when they start their day. It’s not unusual to see infants and young toddlers outside with the others. Cowboys don’t have babysitters, and everyone pitches in. Wolves don’t discriminate. They are opportunists and go for the easy kill.”
The blonde nodded and turned to the camera. “We’re going back to Jackie and the scene at the ranch outside of Evans Point, Wyoming.”
Xan shut the set off and dropped back onto the bed.
Ajani.
Wolves didn’t kill indiscriminately, and they didn’t slaughter entire groups of people. In fact, the people on the ranch were from a rival pack, had been Tao’s enemies going back generations. Wild wolves didn’t kill Wolf shifters. They tended to be afraid of them and kept wide boundaries between themselves and weres. But packs of demons would turn an entire village or community into a killing ground, especially when they had a beef with a shifter for killing the mate of the Alpha.
He had to tell Drew and get the women and children out of Los Lobos before Ajani and his crew made their way into the Black Hills. The warlord wanted it to look like wolves, so the local authorities wouldn’t pick up on what really happened.
Shit.
Xan leaped up and threw the door open. He stormed into the living room to find Liv standing in the open door, tossing broken furniture outside. “Take me to Drew.”
She spun around. “You’re not going anywhere until I feel it is safe for you to do so.”
He walked up to her, going nose to nose. “This isn’t about us, or even me.” Grabbing her hand he turned and pulled her down the hall toward his bedroom.
“Let go! I don’t want to have sex right now.” She fought, kicking and trying to yank away, but he kept his hand clamped on her wrist and, as calmly as he could under the circumstances, escorted her by force to his room. She needed to see this.
He threw the door open and shoved her inside and onto the bed. “Sit.”
“Since you asked so nicely.” She glared back crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t know what has gotten in to—”
“Watch.” He turned the television on and pointed to the bloody news. The scene flashed before them, interviews, body bags, hundreds of law enforcement and Fish and Game on the scene. “That’s more than a ranch. They were a community like Los Lobos.”
Her face lost all color, and her hand went to her chest. “Oh, God.”
“Not God. Demons, and they’re coming here. I told you about them. They want to even a score. I need to talk to Drew.”
Liv swallowed and handed her phone over. “You can’t possibly know they’re coming here, to the Black Hills. Africa is a long way to travel to get revenge on one person.”
“They orchestrated the scene in Wyoming to send me a message. They’re coming, and they don’t care if I have an army to protect me.”
What he said sank in. Her eyes widened in fear and her face went white. “What did you do?”
“I killed Ajani’s mate.”
She raised her fist to her mouth and stared at him in horror. She now knew the depths of a mate’s feelings. Her professional life and animal were at war, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. “Why the hell would you kill his mate? You know he won’t stop until you’re dead.”
“I didn’t have a choice. She had her teeth in my throat and planned to rip it out.” He dialed, and Drew’s line went straight to voice mail. He set the phone down. “I need to go outside.”
Liv cocked her head. “Why?”
“I haven’t been just going out on walks on your property. The government trained me to prepare for multiple situations. I’ve built some traps, dug a couple pits, and assessed your security. Ajani likes to make a statement. He won’t attack this house alone; he’ll focus on something bigger, go for the most bang for his effort, get me where it hurts most. First, he’ll come for you, and then he’ll go after my family.”
“You’re basing this on a situation one state away, which might or might not have anything to do with these African demons.”
“It has something to do with them. I feel it in my gut. The gut never lies.” He grabbed Liv’s hands and gave them a squeeze. “I need to get in touch with Drew. This can’t wait. I’m going to set the traps. I need you to stay in here, keep the door locked while I check the perimeter. Don’t go outside. Pack your bags. Once I come back, get in your car, call Kayla, and have her meet you in Hot Springs. Then the two of you leave the Black Hills. Drive as far as you can and don’t stop until the sun rises.”
“Xan, I want to help.”
“Sweetheart, you don’t want to tangle with these things. I can fight better when I’m not worried about you. Everything will be okay.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“You need to get out of here. Ajani is coming, and I don’t want you in his path if he finds out you’re my mate. Please. I will come for you when this is over. Take this card.” He handed her his special business card. “If you don’t see me in four days, call the number. Don’t return to Los Lobos. Ever.”
“What is this for?”
“The Company.” He blew out a breath. “Look, only call them if I don’t show. They will take care of what needs to be done.”
“Xan, I don’t like the way you’re talking.”
“It’s a number to a cleanup crew. Do you understand what that is?”
Liv nodded. “It means you’ll be dead and they will come in and wipe the world of your existence.” A tear trickled down her cheek.
“I don’t intend to get killed. I won’t let what happened in Wyoming repeat here. If they come here thinking they can repeat the slaughter in the Black Hills, they’ve messed with the wrong Wolves.” He lifted his hand and brushed the moisture away with his thumb. “Now, go in the house and lock the door. Don’t let anyone in—even if you think you know them. I will use the code words ‘broken couch’ to let you know it’s me. If anyone comes and doesn’t have the code, don’t open the door. They are known to gain the trust of their victims and manipulate them to get what they want.” Xan walked over and unlocked the deadbolt, stepping outside. “Sit tight, I won’t be long. I’m going to recon the area. Okay?”
Liv nodded locked the door behind him, running to the window to peek out, but he’d already vanished.
Ten minutes later, Xan returned, knocking. “Broken couch.”
Liv threw the door open. Xan strolled in, saw her luggage, grabbed it, and hefted the massive duffle outside, throwing it in her VW dune buggy. He had to shove and fiddle a bit before he could slam the trunk shut.
Liv bit her lip, watching him. Her stomach had long since twisted into knots. “Are you sure we’re not overreacting?”
“I’m sure.” He opened the driver’s door and gestured for her to get in.
Instead of climbing into the seat, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down. “I don’t like leaving you.”
“I’ll be okay—I promise, and I don’t go back on my word.” He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, before breaking away. His chest rose and fell in staggered breaths. “Damn, baby, you make it hard to send you away. He rested his forehead against hers.
“Then don’t.”
“I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. I’ll see you in four days.” He helped her into the vehicle and shut the door. “I mean it, Liv. Once you meet up with Kayla in Hot Springs, you keep driving until sunset. Get as far as you can from here. Don’t worry about me. I’m damned hard to kill.”
***
Liv cranked the key on the VW Bug.
Rrrrrrrrrrr. Put, putt, put, pthhhhhhhh
.
“Shit.” Eyeing the gas gauge, she groaned. “Why me?” She’d forgotten to stop and get gas after her lunch with her sister in Hot Springs the day before. Now, when she needed to leave, she found herself stuck on a deserted stretch of road.
The nearest gas station required a four-mile hike to reach, and it would take her back toward Los Lobos, where Xan had expressly forbidden her to go. Hard enough to leave her mate, worse she had to make a trip back toward the one place she fought against leaving, where Xan might very well be fighting for his life soon.
She leaned forward and thumped her forehead into the steering wheel. Nobody used this dirt road, unless they traveled to Los Lobos, or the Lakota reservation on the other side. Chances were, unless she called for assistance, nobody would come along.
Cell signal sucked in this area, but maybe she’d gotten lucky and her vehicle conked out in a spot where she had reception. She pulled her phone out and stared at zero bars.
Great, just great.
She’d planned to call Kayla once she reached the Springs, and she’d screwed herself by waiting. At least if she’d called her from home, her sister might have been on her way to meet her and could find her on the side of the road.
Of course her vehicle would have to die in a black-out zone. Well, it looked like a long walk awaited her, and thinking about it didn’t get her any closer to her goal.
She only hoped the girl at the only gas station near Los Lobos had a can she could borrow. At this rate, she wouldn’t be out of the area before sundown. Hell, she wouldn’t be out of the area until next week.
Liv sighed and reached for the handle to open the door, glancing over the dash. She froze, her fingers locked around the latch, and her heart forgot how to beat. The wind stirred. A dirt devil whirled across the road, dragging several tumbleweeds with it. The dust cloud obstructed her view. Liv squinted and leaned forward. All of Xan’s talk about killers had gotten the best of her.
Maybe I imagined it?
She blinked as the dervish got to the other side of the road. Liv swallowed a knot in her throat, which felt as comfortable as eating a prickly pear cactus with the stickers still on it. “Crap, crap, crap,” she whispered, frozen in her seat, staring at what very well could be the beasts who’d slaughtered the pack in Wyoming.
Twelve, maybe thirteen people wearing dusters, walked toward her disabled car. The tallest, in the middle, had cocoa skin and a black cowboy hat, and a woman to his left appeared to be pretty close in stature, maybe six foot four.
The man on the center guy’s right sported pale skin, red dreadlocks, and a baseball cap. He didn’t have the height of the man in the middle, or the woman, but Lord what he didn’t have vertically, he made up for in bulk. One could call him a tank. On steroids.
No matter the Stetson or clothing, the man in the middle and his posse didn’t look like any cowboys she’d ever seen. She slid down in her seat, getting as low as possible and hit the locks.
Crunch, crunch, crunch
, the sounds of boots on gravel drew closer.
Liv tugged on the zip ties securing her wrists and feet. She glanced around the windowless office of the old gas station used exclusively by the residents of Los Lobos. The girl who ran the place must’ve sensed the evil making its way toward her and left before it arrived. Good thing, or the monsters would have two hostages to barter with, if in fact they even planned to negotiate. Why else keep her alive?
Three demons outside the office chatted, eating from the display of candy bars there for appearance only. No Wolf in its right mind would touch the toxic chemicals they contained. She smiled. They were only replaced once a year. Hopefully, the bastards got food poisoning. The wrappers crinkled as they tore them open, and at least one of them ate with his mouth open, the sound seemed amplified in the tiny space.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. Smack, smack, smack.
God, didn’t his mother teach him any manners?
Right. Like demons would have manners.
And the stench of those things, combined with the chocolate they consumed. Lord, she’d never look at a candy bar the same way again.
Since the door to the office provided the only exit, and she couldn’t take all three of the soldiers Ajani left to babysit her, she’d opted to sit tight until she could figure out what to do next. A calm mind would be her biggest weapon.
“The rest will be here at sundown, and den we take this piss-hole apart.”
She cocked her head.
Others? As in how many?
“What we gonna do with dis girl?”
“Ajani said not to touch her yet. He got special plans dat involve her. She stink of dat Agent who killed Nuri. He want to punish him. Make him feel da same pain.”
I stink? Right. Pot. Kettle. Black.
Liv surveyed the office, looking for anything to help her get free, but they’d emptied it right out, desk, chair, everything. However, they weren’t too efficient at putting her bonds on. She’d crossed her wrists, one on top of the other, and with a little twist of her hands, she’d have the space to slip out of them. As for her feet, she could insert the end of one of the ties from her wrist into slot A, and voilà, she’d be free.
After the attack, she’d taken some survival courses from a man who worked as a bodyguard for rich executives—one of her coyote pack cousins who took pity on her. Thank God she’d learned what to do in kidnapping situations.
She wouldn’t free herself yet. If she broke out of the ties and still couldn’t get out of the station, all her escape efforts would be in vain. She needed to wait for the right time to make her move. And when it came, she’d have to move fast.