Dark Wolf Rising (Heart of the Shifter) (2 page)

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Just how good are you?" she asked, her voice strangled with fear. "There are wolves out there! What if they come after me?"

"I'm a serious, fucking badass, babe. I'm a thousand times what I was as a kid. I'll keep you alive, I swear." His voice radiated cocky arrogance, just like it had when they were teens, except that now his voice was deep, sliding over her skin like a sensual caress.

Heat flushed her body, and she thought back to the number of times that he'd stepped up and taken the heat for her. She remembered the way the bullies in the school always left him alone, terrified of the raw strength and power in his thin frame. Back then, he'd been the badass that no one expected, and now, he was mouthwatering muscle and man, apparently on the payroll of a pack of wolves. Which would trump, his loyalty to the pack, or to her? "What if you have to kill them to keep me alive?"

He paused for a long moment. "Then I'll kill them."

She felt the truth in his voice, and tears filled her eyes. It had been so long since anyone had stood up for her the way he always had. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed that feeling of knowing that she didn't have to fight her battles on her own. "Damn you," she said softly.

He laughed quietly, squeezing her ass through the comforter, a move that had been obnoxious when they were teens, but that now sent heat cascading through her. "I love it when I make you cry. You ready?"

She knew he wasn't asking if she was ready. He was asking if she trusted him. She let out a deep breath. Cash had always been the one she believed in, and she still did, despite the gaping emptiness of time since she'd last seen him. "Yes. Let's go."

"That's my girl." He scooped her up and slung her over his shoulder, his arm locking her down against him as he headed for the door that separated them from the wolves that had been sent to kill her.

BRYN FOUGHT FOR breath in the dank, musty cocoon, her lungs aching as she heard Cash drag the dresser further away from the doorway so they could fit through it. Then she heard the door open, and the sound of the battle grew louder. She went utterly still, terrified by the thundering of her heart as he walked out into the living room. Wouldn't they hear it? The coppery scent of blood flooded her nose. She could hear the heavy panting of wolves, and the snarls and snapping of teeth, and the faint groans of humans barely alive. An overwhelming sense of grief and guilt flooded her, and she had to fight back sobs. She'd known these men, joked with them, asked them about their families, and now they were dead or dying because of her.

And this was Cash's world? How had he ever become associated with them? The urge to scream and run filled her, and she had to clench her fists to stave off the panic and will her body to stay relaxed, knowing that if she made any move, she would die instantly.

"Stand down," Cash commanded sharply, and the sounds of the wolves faded until there was only panting. She could still hear the groans of men, and she whispered a prayer that they were still alive. "Jesus, Damien." Cash's grip on her tightened, and his body was taut. "What the hell did you do here? It was supposed to be containment only. You attacked these men."

"Had to be done." Damien's voice was rough, scraping over her skin like a sharp-edged knife. "The bastards wouldn't stand down." She knew instantly that Damien was a man to stay away from, a man who was dripping with foulness and depravity. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that he didn't realize she was still alive in the comforter.

"You done with her?" Damien asked. "The witness is dead?"

"Yeah," Cash said evenly, pitching his voice just loud enough for her to be able to hear it over the sounds of the pack growling. "I'll ditch the body where we planned."

"Change of plans." Damien sounded closer now, and she felt Cash stiffen. "I'll take her."

Cash went very still, and she felt sudden heat pour from his body through the comforter. "Who changed the plans?" he asked carefully.

"I did." Damien was so close that the darkness of his energy slid across her.

"Jace is still the pack leader," Cash said evenly, his voice like razor-sharp steel. "I take orders from him."

"Jace is in prison, so as his number two, it's my pack right now," Damien said. She felt his hand touch her back, but Cash swiftly stepped away.

"My orders," Damien said, irritation crackling through his voice. "My call. Give me the body."

There was a long moment of silence, and Bryn's heart started hammering. Sweat was streaming down her temples. The heat Cash was generating was suffocating, her lungs straining for oxygen with each breath.

Finally, Cash spoke. "You're his number two only because I declined," Cash said, his voice so low it sounded almost like a growl. "If I decide to claim it, it's mine, so back off." Then he turned, and began to walk, his strides long and even as he walked away from Damien.

Bryn strained to listen for footsteps, but she could hear nothing more than the continued groans of men, and the panting of the wolves.

"Don't fuck with me, Cash," Damien called out.

Cash didn't turn around, and he didn't slow down. "All healers shift and stabilize the injured ones to keep them alive until the paramedics arrive," he commanded. "Everyone else clear," he ordered. "Now."

For a moment, no one responded, and then she heard Damien snap an order to the wolves. Almost instantly, she felt the energy in the room shift, and the growls turned to the low murmur of men in discussion, exchanging hurried words and orders as they hustled to do Cash's bidding. Other wolves sprang into action, their toenails clicking on the floor as they raced toward the door.

Cash turned sharply, away from the sounds, and the scent of blood and death became fainter. He moved faster, his body lithe and effortless as he sprinted down the stairs, still holding her tightly. She thought she heard the sound of canine toenails clicking on the steps, and she tried not to grunt as he ran, his shoulder digging into her belly.

He shoved open a heavy door, and then she could hear the sounds of the sirens in the distance. Should she call for help? Was that better than letting Cash take her away in a quilt? But he'd kept her alive, and the police hadn't been able to accomplish that. She
knew
him. She could trust him...except he was clearly affiliated with the wolf pack that had savaged a woman in front of her and had attacked the men assigned to protect her. What the hell was going on?

He set her down on something soft. "She's dead," he announced, loudly. "I got it covered."

"I'm coming with you." It was the voice of another man, one she didn't recognize.

Cash swore under his breath, but she heard the sounds of car doors slamming, and then the engine roared to life. Damn. Someone else was in the vehicle with them. The vehicle lurched forward, and she slid across the seat as they took off, slamming into the back of it. Her face was smashed against the back of the seat, and she could barely breathe, but she was afraid to move. Who else was with them?

Sweat was slithering down her forehead, stinging her eyes, and her arm was burning where she'd sliced it. Her lungs were aching with the need for oxygen, and she knew she was almost out of time. Her arms were pinned to her sides, and there was no way she could get out. She knew she had only a few minutes left until she suffocated. Cash needed to unwrap her, and fast.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm her frantic heart and breathe quietly enough not to give herself away. What had she done, letting a man she hadn't seen in years entomb her while her police protectors were being assassinated? The truck skidded around a corner, dumping her off the seat onto the floor, but mercifully rolling her over so her face was no longer against the seatback, allowing her to breathe ever so slightly.

"What happened back there?" The other man asked, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stay calm. If the passenger was someone Cash trusted, he would have unwrapped her by now. The fact she was still trussed up on the floor could mean only one thing: the man in the vehicle with them wanted her dead.

Cash swore as he heard Bryn slide off the seat and thud on the floor as the SUV peeled around a corner. He knew he had to get her out of the comforter soon, or she'd suffocate. He was still reeling from his first sighting of her in over a decade. She still had the same blue eyes he remembered, but they weren't as innocent anymore. He hated the shadows he'd seen in them, and it had taken all his willpower to stand back and entomb her in the comforter when all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and shield her from all the nightmares haunting her, like he used to do.

Except…his response to her was nothing like it had once been. She'd been his best friend, a girl he knew so well she was a part of him. She'd been his safe place, his source of strength, but it had never been sexual or romantic…but all that shit had gone flying out the window the moment he'd pulled her against him and felt the curves of her body, and realized that she'd become a woman. His entire body had gone hard and hot instantly, an instinctual, predatory response he hadn't been able to control.

His moment with her had been so fast, so fleeting, but it had triggered something in him that was still searing through his veins. He could still feel her body against his. Her scent was wrapped around him, filling the SUV like some siren call that made him want to vault over the seat, drag the comforter off her, and haul her into his arms and kiss her until the need pouring through him abated.

"Cash." Drake London, his best friend, disrupted his thoughts. "What the fuck went down at the hotel? I could hear the screams from the ground. I thought no one was supposed to get hurt, other than the girl." Drake was wearing black jeans, black boots, and a long-sleeved black T-shirt, dressed for the night, just like Cash. He'd been Cash's backup in case it turned out it had been a setup by Damien to take Cash out, which they'd both suspected.

The hit had turned out to be legit, but it had still been dicey as hell at the end. Cash had been a breath from calling in Drake when Damien had reached for Bryn to claim her. He'd seen the bloodlust in Damien's eyes, and he knew the other man was barely holding power over his wolf.

"I think Damien ordered them to attack," he said curtly, his mind moving at rapid speed. How the hell was he going to ditch Drake? He needed to get Bryn out of the comforter and fix her arm. He still couldn't believe she'd cut herself like that. His wolf had nearly taken control of him when she'd hurt herself. It had taken all his willpower to stay in control, when his wolf had been raging to protect her. What had she been thinking? His arm was already healing, but she was human and wouldn't heal like him. He needed to tend to her, and he couldn’t do that while Drake was in the car. It was too dangerous.

"Damien ordered them to attack?" Drake frowned, his brow furrowed in disbelief as he braced his palm on the dash and turned around to watch the road behind them. "You're sure?"

"Either that, or he let them go when they scented blood. Either way, he's responsible."

"Damien's bad news."

"No shit." Everyone knew that Damien always treaded close to the edge of bloodlust, but Jace Donovan, their alpha, always forced him to keep control. But Jace was currently locked up in prison awaiting the outcome of his trial.

Drake glanced down at Bryn's inert body on the floor. "I can't believe you killed her."

"Did my job." Cash hit the gas harder, flying down the winding road, heading deeper into the woods. He needed to put some space between himself and the rest of the pack, but he had to ditch Drake before he figured out what was up. He scanned the road, looking for a place to unload his friend.

"She was your girl," Drake observed, studying him thoughtfully. "You're too loyal to hurt anyone who matters to you."

"It was a long time ago," he muttered, still cursing that Drake had been looking right at him the moment he'd found out the name of the woman the pack was planning to assassinate. He and Drake had been together for more than a decade, a couple of fucked up kids who had scraped together a survival that neither of them deserved. Drake had been with him in those early days when he'd snuck back to Bryn's house to check on her while she was sleeping. He'd been afraid to let himself be alone with her, so he'd always brought Drake with him, with orders to do whatever it took to keep Cash from hurting her.

Of course, Cash's need to protect had been strong enough that he'd never even been close to hurting her, but his need to bring Drake as a backup had given Drake an inside look at the life he'd kept private from everyone else. When Damien had announced Bryn was the target, Drake had realized instantly that it was the same girl that Cash had guarded when they were teens.

"Maybe it was long ago, but it hasn't been long enough." Drake watched him, but Cash refused to look at him, scanning the woods up ahead. They were at least ten miles off the main road now, not far enough, but he was out of time. He had to get Bryn out of the damned quilt.

He hit the brakes, and the SUV skidded to a stop.

Drake raised one eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Get out."

His other eyebrow went up, and he didn't move. "Get out? Why?"

"Just get out."

A look of understanding dawned on Drake's face. "Son of a bitch. You didn't kill her, did you? Jesus, Cash. She's alive?" He glanced toward the backseat, his face lined with concern. "She's going to suffocate in there."

"Get the fuck out. Now." Cash reached under the seat and pulled out Bryn's gun, pointing it at his best friend. "Silver bullets, my friend."

Drake made no move toward the door. "I'm in. I'm with you. You know that."

"I won't risk you. Damien will hunt me down when they realize what I did, and he's controlling the pack right now." Cash raised the gun to eye level. "I have a gun with a silver bullet. You have no choice." His gut was eating at him for pulling a gun on the person who'd stood by him since his life had gone to hell. He knew he could use Drake's help, but he wouldn't risk his friend's life.