Wild Hunts (3 page)

“Everything we need is right here.” A chorus of howls rode the night air, sending a chill down his spine. Time was wasting away. “We’ll just reroute the rebels long enough to suspend her scent. Good thing you noticed the clothes.”

Slade snorted. “I was hoping to hang on to this. Bro, you’re a buzz killer.”

Micah pitched the balled-up sweater at Slade’s chest and chuckled. “You’re covered in her. You won’t be needing some cotton to keep her close.”

“True.” His black eyes sparked with mischievous intent. His voice took a dangerous turn. “Let’s fuck with these pricks and go after our real prize.”

Chapter Two

Kasa stormed into her small cabin, ripping her brother’s sweater off before the door closed. Her skin reeked of rotten earth, blood, and sweat. Her growing frustration didn’t help temper the raunchy smells, although she caught a hint of masculinity that stood out from everything else.

One of the strangers came home with her, and that subtle scent helped keep her wits in line.

Jordan followed her through the small living quarters despite the cold glance she shot back at him. Her nakedness in his presence didn’t bother her remotely as much as him tagging along at her heels like a mama wolf. Twenty-five years of his parental encumbrance was taking a toll on her rather independent spirit.

“Jordan, off my tail,” Kasa warned.

“Not on your tail.”

“You’ve been badgering me the entire walk back from your place.” Crossing into her bathroom, she spun and blocked his entrance. “You’re not staying in here while I shower.”

Jordan’s fingers ringed her narrow wrist and pulled her hand away from the doorframe. He glowered down on her as he sidled by. She released an exasperated groan.

“When you answer me the one question I’ve been asking, I’ll leave you alone,” Jordan said. His tone was dark and dangerous, about as dangerous as the sharp glint in his glowing eyes. His gaze never fell below her own, restoring a touch of her dignity. Perching his ass on the edge of her sink, he crossed his ankles, his arms over his chest, and cocked a brow. “Why the fuck did you go tonight? I told you we had this one covered.”

Kasa tossed up her arms and gave him her backside. She wrenched the dial in the shower, turning the water to hot. She didn’t wait until it heated before stepping beneath the icy spray. Not even the shocking cold eased her aggravation. With a jerk, she pulled her shower curtain closed, ripping one of the hooks off the pole. It clanked in the tub at her feet.

“Your interrogation will not ruin my dinner.” She squeezed a large dollop of shampoo into her palm and began roughly lathering her dirty hair. On the other side of the curtain, Jordan let out a small, humorless laugh. “I’m serious. Go home, get your damn beer, and call up one of your girl toys. You’ve put me in a foul mood.”

“What about me? You dodged my radar, broke into the heart of the Dark Moon’s territory, and tried to unleash lunatics. Had it not been for those two strangers, you would’ve been mauled by one of those half-transformed weres.”

Kasa spit out a breath sprinkled with soapy bubbles. Wiping shampoo from her eyes, she pinpointed her brother’s imposing silhouette through the matte shower curtain. He hadn’t moved from the sink.

“I was
helping
them.”

“You fucked up, Kasa. You fucked up big. That’s a main cell, one where their reprogramming hasn’t been completed. All the other breakouts we’ve done have been on holding cells.” Bottles scraped against ceramic. Glass shattered, and she gasped. Poking her sudsy head out from behind the curtain, she surveyed her lost items. Jordan nudged a large chunk of glass with the toe of his boot. His expression remained stone-cold despite the damage he procured. He was not the least bit remorseful for his actions when in this state. “Not only did you give up our game, you placed yourself in danger. You went off on your own when I fucking told you to
stay put
.”

“You’re cleaning that up,” Kasa said, jutting her chin to the mess on her tile floor. She was stuck in the tub until he did so. Enough skin was shredded tonight without her soles becoming victims.

Jordan’s gaze shot up to her. His nostrils flared and his upper lip quivered in the beginning of a threatening sneer. A chill slinked along her arms. Only a handful of times had she ever beheld her brother’s primitive, deadly look before. Each time, her life was threatened.

This time, by her own hand, earning her the frightening focus of his attention.

She snapped the curtain back into place and finished rinsing the shampoo from her hair then lathered for a second time. The water had finally reached an uncomfortable degree of hot. Hell, if boiling water would melt the stench of that overbearing brute from her body, so be it.

“Kasa Jones, you’re officially off the squad. I’ll be damned if Mom and Dad start haunting me because I failed to keep you safe. Your life is worth more than those captives.”

Her heart stammered. Off the squad? How could her own brother kick her off when she was the one releasing the captives?

The bar of soap slipped through her fingers and landed on her toe. A dull stream of pain slithered up her leg, but nothing like that of her spirit.

“You’re awfully quiet.”

She laughed against the tightness in her throat. Jordan couldn’t keep her from helping. If he planned to restrain her from something she yearned to do—helping other weres regain their lives—then she’d just do it on her own.

“Brewing some plan to defy me in my decisions?” The razor edge in his grating tone dared her to rebuke. Damn, he knew her well. Too well. “Good thing for me, those two decided to pop up when they did. You’ve done a fair job running from them long enough.”

Kasa stiffened. Who were “those two,” anyhow? The shocking pale blue eyes came to mind, the gentle kiss that black-and-gray shared with her. She steeled herself against the sudden influx of heat between her thighs. Did Jordan set them up to hunt her down so he could yank her sliver of independence from her fingers?

“You conniving asshole. You did. You set this all up.” Kasa growled. She shut off the water and felt around the wall outside the curtain for her towel. Jordan’s silhouette shifted, and a moment later a towel landed in her grappling fingers. With a snarl, she dried herself off then tucked the towel around her body.

“I didn’t set anything up. It was quite a coincidence, actually.” The wooden floorboards outside the bathroom creaked under her brother’s weight. She pulled back the curtain to an empty room, colored glass shimmering over the floor.

“Hey! Where’re you going? Get back here, Jordan!”

“I’m grabbing the broom and dustpan. Didn’t you rudely instruct me to clean up the mess?” Jordan called from the kitchen. Kasa sighed. Her shoulders sagged. The turn of events from the past few hours was taking a toll on her. She wanted her steak, her wine, and a good movie to cozy up to.

Hell, fantasizing about what that blue-eyed mystery wolf looked like in human form wouldn’t be so bad, either. As it was, she was itching for some self-motivated sexual satisfaction. Since the news across the were communities erupted about suspected members of the Dark Moon pack kidnapping weres, breaking them down mentally, and reprogramming them to do their biddings, Jordan had become a second skin. He seldom let her out of his sight for more than an hour, and that was only under the close watch of another pack member. Or two. She hadn’t dated in almost a year, and her underserved libido was screaming for attention.

The closest she came to a night of hot satisfaction was with a vibrator, her fingers, and a hell of an imagination.

Heat crept up her neck when her brother returned to the bathroom. If he only knew…

His amber eyes shot up to her, flickering with dark humor. He had shed his coat and tied back his dark hair at his nape. Broom in one hand, dustpan in the other, he crouched down and began efficiently cleaning her bathroom floor.

“I might have a frilly skirt in my closet. I’m sure it would look smashing on you,” Kasa teased. Jordan chuckled and shook his head, sweeping up the larger shards of glass first. She nibbled her lower lip and leaned against the moist tile wall of her shower. “Do you know who those two wolves were?”

He didn’t spare her a glance. “No.”

“How do you know they weren’t part of Dark Moon, or even one of the crazed experiments? That black one attacked Luke.”

“He didn’t attack. He simply instigated. He didn’t leave a mark on Luke, except for that to his pride.” Jordan dumped the remnants of her colorful bottles in the garbage can and sighed. With his elbows on his knees and the broom and dustpan hanging between his legs, he looked up at her. “I honestly don’t know who they are, but I have my ideas.”

“Care to share with your darling sister?”

She mustered her most innocent smile and batted her eyes. Jordan laughed and straightened up. He left the items on her counter and crossed the small room in two long strides. For the first time since he dragged her from the forest, the tension riding him finally melted away. The cold daggers in his eyes warmed. He lifted his hand to her forehead. His smile waned a smidgen right before he wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her out of the tub. Her feet didn’t touch the floor until she was in the hallway.

“Get dressed, and I’ll fix up that nasty cut on your forehead. Must’ve been deep if the wolf couldn’t mend it like your ribs.” Jordan nudged her toward her bedroom and turned back to the bathroom. He paused in the doorway. “And please, dress in something more than those little brief panties and a tank top. I’m your brother, for crying out loud. A full-length flannel gown might be more appropriate.”

Kasa dressed—short shorts and a tank top was more than her brief panties—and returned to the kitchen. Jordan dropped a slab of red meat into a hot pan. Kasa smiled. The delicious aromas of searing steak and spices funneled up and filled her small kitchen. Her mouth watered. Her jaw tightened. Her stomach growled, which earned her a curious sideward glance from her brother as he washed his hands then grabbed the peroxide and a wad of gauze he must’ve gathered while she changed.

“Haven’t eaten much today?”

“Nah. Too busy preparing for the evening’s escapade,” Kasa admitted. Jordan nodded solemnly. She didn’t care to bring up the botched breakout again, until something he said a few minutes earlier struck her. He dabbed at the wound along her brow, which had thankfully stopped bleeding before her shower. After applying ointment, he covered it with a small bandage. Kasa dipped her head and leaned against his solid chest. “How did you know I broke my ribs?”

“You cursed over our link and muttered something about it,” he answered nonchalantly. Too casual for her brother who’d exploded over her carelessness this evening. A scratch earned her a doctoring that could put a licensed practitioner to shame. A broken bone? The wolf was lucky he died by another’s teeth. She’d seen her brother’s vicious behavior whenever something, or someone, hurt her. Her last boyfriend suffered dearly for his actions.

She shuddered at the memory and quickly swallowed it down. That was a long time ago, and she was fine now.

“You want me to finish cooking your steak?” Jordan stroked her back, a silent declaration of his love for her. The man seldom got emotional. She soaked up every nonverbal show of affection when given the chance. Perhaps they were both ruined in that sense. Losing their parents at the teeth of rebels during the Blood Moon massacre and being on the run, never in a single place longer than a couple months, kept her heart shielded and her spirit on high alert. Jordan was the only one she could trust, could love. If she ever lost him…

“I know you’re itching to get some rest. I’ll unwind myself and doze off in a little while.” Kasa pressed out of his embrace and smiled up at him. “Go home. Have your beer. Call a girl. Do whatever it is that helps you unwind. You need it, too.”

“No girls tonight.”

“Too late?”

“No longer in the mood.”

“Well, isn’t that a shame for whoever the prospective visitor might’ve been.” Kasa chuckled. She nudged Jordan toward her door. “Get outta here. I want
my
alone time.”