His Wolf (Wolf of My Heart) (14 page)

"Hello, Bronte," said Red. "I think you know who we are and why we're here."

"You're part of The Arm?"

He smirked and nodded. "So you were expecting us.  Where's your boyfriend?"

"Asleep. There's no need to involve him in
preter
business. He doesn't know anything about it."

He stepped closer. "Did you honestly think you'd get away with this?"

Deep breath, Bronte.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You must know the
Corteggio
busted up the Houston pack. That means The Arm is over.
Done."

They exchanged glances that said they'd fully expected me to play dumb. The guy with dirty-blond hair spoke up. "The Arm will always survive, baby. Now we want the pack funds you stole."

"There is no pack."

Buzz Cut snarled.
"Not in Houston, maybe.
But other packs in Texas are still going strong because they're run by men instead of cubs."

"So?"

"Yarbrough was Southeast Regional Master, which means he had access to every pack's money. We've just found out that the bastard has been embezzling from us for years. Had accounts all over the place. You were his right-hand gal, which means you've got them now. Why else would you run?"

"Listen," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound as shaky as I felt. "I ran because I'd had enough. All I took was his truck, two-thousand dollars in petty cash, and that laptop, which, I admit, does have information on some bank accounts. The
truck's
totaled; I've spent the two grand. You can have the laptop, but it may not have what you want on it and won't do you any good without his passwords. But I'll sell them to you for five-thousand dollars and a promise to never bother me or my boyfriend again."

Blondie hooted. "I don't think you've got any bargaining power, little girl."

"Then you'd better think again."

"
Shh
." Red held up his hand to silence us.

I instantly thought of Erik-wolf, who could've escaped out the window by now and might be making his way around the house. If he came through the front door, he'd surely die. No wolf, especially a new one, was a match for one gun, much less three.

Buzz Cut sniffed the air. "A
Were's
been here."

I looked at him in confusion. Of course one had. And one still was.
Namely, me.
Couldn't they tell who they
were smelling
?

"How can you scent anything over that bitch's perfume?" Blondie as good as growled.

Oh. My.
God.
They didn't have a clue I could shift. I really was Yarbrough's best-kept secret. I don't know how I kept my face straight.
"Fine then.
I'll make you a list of the passwords. You can take the laptop and go."
As in please.

"Oh we'll take it, all right," said Red with a humorless laugh. "And there won't be any need for a list since we'll be taking
you,
too, just to be sure you're being straight with us. Besides, Yarbrough said you were the best assistant he ever had, and since I'm taking over Houston, I'll need you to sort things out."

I backed up a step. "Not happening."

"Then we'll just have to hire us a hacker and a secretary,
which
means you're no use to us at all." Red nodded at Blondie, who leveled his gun at me.

I never got the chance to react. Erik-wolf erupted into the room, but not through the front door. No, he came from the tiny hallway behind me, which meant he'd somehow gotten the bedroom door open. Flying past, he charged Buzz Cut, who yelled and staggered back, dropping his weapon in the process. The guy partially shifted--freaky to see--but Erik mauled him into bloody unconsciousness before that process was complete. The moment he was out, he shifted back into human form and lay there still as death and bleeding from his bites.

The other intruders, frozen in shock, abruptly came to life and shifted. But I did, too, ferociously snarling as I freed myself of the bits of clothing that hadn't been torn during the morph. As I attacked, my paws slid on the shredded fabric littering the hewn wooden floor. She-wolf me sensed their extreme shock at the new development, but they quickly rallied, making it two seasoned wolves against two
newbies
. Erik went for Blondie; I attacked Red. Though I was the smallest animal in the room and had never fought, I gave it all I had. I even got in some bites, clamping down on Red-wolf's shoulder and holding on for dear life as he slung me about.

That small victory ended when I was slammed against the wall. Pain shot through my back. I howled my agony. Red-wolf pounced, gnawing me like a bone while I struggled to get away from him. Cruel jaws locked on my airway, cutting off my oxygen. The room went gray and then black. Fight sounds faded to silence.

And then all at once I could breathe again. As air rushed into my lungs, I opened my eyes and saw Erik, fully naked and gloriously human, kicking the holy shit out of Red-wolf. I swore I could hear ribs crack. Diverted, my attacker whirled and lunged at Erik, who lunged back
without  hesitation
, somehow breaking one of Red-wolf's front legs from the sickening crunch of it. Then Erik got him in a wrestler's choke hold, tightening it until the werewolf's
golden eyes glazed over and he went limp. Erik let Red-wolf drop to the floor, where he immediately shifted into a naked man.

Still struggling to breathe, I assessed our situation with a sweeping glance of the room.
Three down, none to go.
I tried to clear my head enough for the focus needed to shift back. I managed, but only because of the full moon's powerful sway. I was that rattled.

The moment my shift was complete, Erik dropped to one knee nearby. His gaze slid over me. He winced. "God, Bronte. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Just a little banged up."

"
Chewed
up is more like it. You're a bloody mess."

"Well, you've never looked better," I said, using that excuse to take in all his yummy details. Even scratched and bleeding he'd do. He'd
definitely
do. I reached out for him. We hugged.

"Stay right there." Erik left long enough to find some clothes. When he got back, I saw he had dressed and was carrying more clothing. I watched him struggle with dressing the lower halves of three very large men who were out cold. He then left again and came back with ropes, which he wound and intricately knotted around the
Weres
. Neither man nor wolf would break free anytime soon. Erik dealt with the guns next. He laid them on the kitchen table, along with a couple of knives that I pointed out on the floor among the scraps of clothing. He added two wallets to the pile, as well.

Then it was my turn for his attention.

"Come on." He scooped me up and deposited me on the couch though I was feeling stronger by the second and could've walked. "Let's see how bad these bites are."

I had bites, plural? I only remembered the neck thing. Gingerly touching it, I felt sticky punctures way too close to my jugular. Erik had saved me from certain death twice now. I owed him big time and could only gaze in wonder at the bound bodies littering the cabin floor. He made another quick trip to the bedroom, coming back with my abandoned bikinis and one of his T-shirts, which he tossed to me.

I stood to put on the clothes.

"Save the shirt until I've dressed the bites. Just cover up or something."

With a nod, I stepped into the bikinis and then used the T-shirt to hide everything above the waist. "I'll need to buy you more Band-Aids if this keeps up."

He just shook his head and sat next to me. I saw that he had a wet washcloth and the first aid kit. For the next few minutes, Erik cleaned wounds I didn't know I had while I held the shirt over my bare boobs.
"First fight?"

"Yeah, and speaking of firsts, how'd you shift back so fast? It took me way longer than that my first time."

"Guess I'm a natural."

I had to agree. "And where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I might have a black belt or two."

"So that's what your cousin meant by the 'white pajamas' comment."

"Yeah.
They don't appreciate the subtlety of martial arts."

"Well your talents saved me tonight." I touched his face. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now would you please tell me why in the hell you tried to lock me in the bedroom?"

"I wanted to keep you out of my problems."

"Damn, Bronte. In case you haven't noticed, I'm in this thing as deeply as you are. So no more tricks, okay? This is my fight now, too."

"Okay." I peeked over my shoulder at the men lying on the floor. Was one of them stirring? "What are we going to do about those guys?"

"I say we stuff them in the trunk of my car or, better yet, theirs, if we can find it, and dump them somewhere far, far away. Then you call your
Corteggio
friends and report where they are."

Though he was clearly joking, his idea wasn't half bad. "I do have a business card one of them gave me."

Erik sat back and wearily rubbed the top of his head, messing up already messy hair. "I was actually kidding."

"I know, but your idea is still a good one."

"
Hmph
."
He put a neon pink bandage on one last wound and then began cleaning up everything.

I stopped him. "Not yet. I haven't done you."

Erik sighed and handed me the kit. "Do you have any idea how tempting
you
doing
me
sounds
right now?"

"Because I'm half naked?"

"Right in one.
And touching you is driving me insane."

I loved the sound of that almost as much as I loved the boy saying it. Oops! There was that pesky L word again, slipping in when I least expected it. Once more I filed it away for future consideration. At the moment, my tired mind couldn't do any thought process justice. "So let
me
touch
you
instead."

"I'm okay. We need to get rid of the
Weres
while it's still dark."

"Then we should finish dressing." Turning my back on Erik, I put on his tee. I started toward the bedroom. Halfway there, I realized that Erik hadn't followed. A look back revealed he was locking up the front of the house again. As for the broken window, he used one of the boards left over from his bedroom door project to cover the empty spot.

We both changed into day clothes. I tugged my boots on. Twisting my hair into a messy ponytail, I followed him back to the living area. All three guys were awake now and highly pissed, but Erik had them secured.

"You'll never get away with this," said Blondie. "Our whole pack knows where you are. If we don't come back, someone else will show up. The Arm doesn't forget or forgive."

Erik ignored him and singled out Red. "Where's your ride?" Erik got a snort in reply and drew his foot back as if he were going to kick the prisoner right in his broken ribs.

Red instantly caved.
"A mile north."

"And the key?"

"Ignition."

With a nod, Erik began dragging him into a closet. I helped with the other two. Though they struggled and cursed at us, we ignored their abuse. They'd started this, after all. I had no sympathy for them. Once we got the door closed, we scotched it with a kitchen chair shoved under the knob.