Pride's Pursuit Read online

  Knowing it’s for Stone’s own good—the good of our kind—I tilt my chin and glare at him with stubborn determination.

  “This isn’t up for debate,” I say, my voice low, but unwavering.

  He glares at me, then understanding I’m not about to back down, he disengages himself from my thoughts and gives a resigned shake of his head. Still I know he’ll follow me.

  With that I turn and push a broken and charred door out of my way. It falls to the floor and the noise shudders in the unnatural silence. Instincts on high alert, I step inside and my taste buds are instantly assaulted with the decaying stench of charred flesh. My gut clenches and my wolf howls in response, the smell so overwhelming that I have to breathe through my mouth to avoid choking.

  Pushing on, I carefully pick my way through burnt debris, my feet falling mutely as I step over black beams and scorched floorboards. The house is dark, all but destroyed, the rooms lit only by the few orange embers still smoldering in the structure’s outer edges.

  With my senses guiding the way, I go deeper into the house, or at least what’s still standing of it. The floor creaks and I fear it’s about to collapse beneath Stone’s impressive weight. He keeps close to me, so close I can feel his warm breath on my neck. We continue forward until I find the others in a room that once served as a kitchen.

  Dread takes hold when I see a badly beaten girl—one who is no older than me. Crouched on the floor with her back braced against a seared wall, her breath is coming in quick, labored bursts.

  Everything from the vacant look in her pale blue eyes, to the way her legs are pulled to her chest, her arms hugging them tightly against her bloody body, warns that she’s still paralyzed with fear. The sour stench of her terror, a pungent mixture of curdled milk and spoiled meat, has the animal in me howling with rage, eager to seek revenge on those who did this to her.

  As I pull in the scent, allowing it to fuel my wolf, Logan kneels in front of her. Talking in soft, whispered words he carefully brushes her ragged hair from her face. My perked ears enable me to listen in on the hushed conversation.

  Not wanting to startle the girl I move in beside my father. I tilt my head to meet his glance and when I do his dark eyes narrow in genuine concern. After we exchange a worried look, I take in the stricken expressions of the other shifters in our pack. When my glance meets Gem’s I gesture with a nod to Sandy, who looks paler than ever as she rubs the small bulge in her expanding belly.

  Knowing this is no place for a girl in her condition and that her growing child shouldn’t be exposed to any of the toxic fumes still lingering in the air, I jerk my head toward the doorway.

  Gem instantly understands my message and leads Sandy outside. Once she’s gone, I turn my attention back to Logan. Driven by pure instinct, I take a small step closer to him, my wolf needing in the most desperate ways to support the alpha she mated with. But when I do, the girl flinches. Undisguised panic ripples through her, and she pulls Logan against her, shielding her body with his.

  “It’s okay, Nova,” he murmurs as he slides me a look that speaks volumes. While we might not be able to speak mentally, I know him well enough to understand what he’s asking of me. I give a tight nod and inch back until I’m once again standing next to my father. After giving Logan and the girl a generous amount of space, Nova relaxes slightly, but she still doesn’t ease her hold on the alpha.

  “It’s Pride,” he explains, his voice both soft and soothing as he settles his own emotions so he can concentrate on Nova. My heart lurches, remembering all the techniques this boy once used to relieve my worries and gain my trust. While he might be young, his intuition and inner strength never fail to amaze me. “You remember Pride, don’t you?” he asks.

  Nova’s jerky nod takes me by surprise. Her thick, death-black hair falls forward and masks her features as I study her harder, struggling to figure out who she is, and how she knows me. Before the answer comes to me, Logan slowly climbs to his feet, and his voice gives way to soft persuasion as he coaxes her to follow him up.

  Her bones crack in protest as she stands and I wonder how long she’s been crouched in that same position. Looking badly beaten and frightened to the point of tears her eyes rake over the motley crew with detached interest. But when her glance lands on me and lingers for longer than what’s comfortable, I get the strangest sense that she’s sizing me up.

  Unease moves into my stomach and my hackles bristle. The dark warning shivering through my blood has my wolf growling. But I place my hand over my stomach to hush her.

  Logan curls a protective arm around the girl’s shoulders and pulls her against him to offer comfort. She melts into him and that’s when her identity hits me. I’d briefly met her at Logan’s house when he first introduced me to the members of his pack. That was close to four weeks ago, right after the last full moon—which, I can tell from the gnawing ache pulling at my joints, will be upon us again any day now.

  But thinking about Logan’s family has me worrying about Malcolm and the others who disappeared outside the master’s mansion. I swallow the knot tightening my throat and wonder if they were involved in this bloodbath, or if they’re still missing, either caught by the PTF or on the run from deadly, shape shifting panthers in California wine country.

  “We can’t stay here,” Logan says quietly as he moves past my father and me to lead Nova outdoors. The hard lines on his face soften and there is real relief in his eyes when he lowers his voice and adds, “Nova said most of our pack made it out alive. Some might even be at our den just over that peak.” He stops to jut his chin toward the eastern mountain. “She has more information but right now she’s in no shape to talk. She has to shift and heal herself first.”

  As I watch them step over the rubble, and make their way through the crumbling house, I get the oddest feeling that something’s not quite right here. Heightening my senses, I listen to Nova’s blood pulse effortlessly through her veins. As I take in the smooth, unrestricted flow, I quickly conclude that the steady, rhythmic beat of her heart belies her stricken expression. Maybe she’s not quite as frightened as she seems.

  When Logan disappears around the corner with her packaged in his arms, I think about canine self preservation. While I understand that she’s been through a great amount of trauma, I also understand shifting to heal is as inherent as breathing—so why hasn’t Nova done it already?

  What has her wolf been waiting for?

  2

  With my lungs starved for fresh mountain air, I shelve that thought to consider later and follow my father outside. We step into a clearing and as he makes his way toward the others I move past the smoke and catch a familiar scent in the night breeze. It’s that element of danger fluttering by in the wind that torments my primal side and warns me to proceed with caution.

  Stopping in my tracks, I breathe deep to pull the rich aroma of the forest into my lungs. I sort through nature’s smells and a measure of relief moves through me when I detect traces of rain inching in from the west, but when I get the eerie sense that someone is watching me it troubles my restless wolf.

  I shoot a glance around. Despite the heat from the fire, an uneasy feeling trickles along my spine and elicits a shiver from deep within. I wrap my arms around myself and continue to scan my surroundings, looking for possible threats, and unknown enemies.

  I narrow my eyes and through imaginary crosshairs I capture Logan leading Nova toward the towering trees fringing the village. With undisguised sympathy etched on his face, he keeps her close, protected, holding her battered body tight against his. From my distance I can’t hear what he’s saying to her, but from the way her pale eyes watch him intently, to the way her body never once flinches, I can tell it’s something very important.

  I make a move to go toward them but when warm, rough knuckles brush along the small of my back it stills my steps and anchors me in place.

  “You okay?” Stone asks, and I jump at the sound of his voice inside my head.

  “
Yes,” I answer quickly, and throw up a wall of defense to hide my private thoughts from him. I don’t want him to worry about me any more than he already does. Besides, we have more troubling matters at hand. Like where are we going to find the monsters responsible for this deadly firestorm and what is it going to take for us to stop them from ever doing it again?

  Thinking of the PTF has me sniffing the air again and wondering if we’re alone. Could they be out there watching, waiting for us to lead them to the wolves who managed to flee their lethal fire? Their poisonous silver? Could they be waiting for us all to gather in one place so they can make a nice tidy kill using as little of their resources as possible?

  Astute wolf that he is and able to read me better than almost anyone else, Stone’s nostrils flare and he answers my unasked question, “I think they’re gone, Pride.”

  Understanding I can’t hide much from his piercing eyes, I give an uneasy nod, then, when I see my father talking to Gem and Sandy, I start toward him. With determined strides I quickly close the distance but when Gem looks at me, my heart drops to my stomach. The pain beneath her glittering green eyes is a reminder that she’s part of Logan’s pack and this is—was—her home, too.

  An apology lingers on my tongue. I want to tell her I’m sorry, that I plan to do whatever it takes to right this wrong, but I know she doesn’t want sympathy from me. And like Logan she’d never hold me accountable for the destruction.

  Regardless, whether they believe this is my fault or not, I know I’m the one responsible, and I know I have to do something about it.

  “Logan mentioned a den,” I say, sounding more in control than I feel.

  Gem points to a distant peak, and I note how both fear and worry have dulled the shine in her eyes. “Up there.”

  I peer into the night, and wonder if any of her family actually made it there alive. Or could the PTF have tracked them up the mountain, to finish what they started? Since there is no sign of a fire, no smoke signals in the sky, I cling to the hope that they’re safe and alive.

  Somewhere in the near distance a nocturnal animal lets loose a wounded cry and all heads turn in its direction. Looking spooked, Sandy glances around nervously, her dark cautious eyes searching the forest as she inches closer to me.

  I pull her against my body to offer comfort, and feel a measure of hope that she’s going to be okay after all the trauma she’s been through. I’m grateful that she no longer hates me, and that she now knows I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her and her unborn safe.

  But thinking about her baby has me wondering about the father, and where he might be now. It saddens me to think she was forced to mate with someone she didn’t care for and I wonder what she’ll feel for an offspring that wasn’t created out of love. Will they bond, or will the child simply be a reminder of the harsh life we were forced to endure?

  The master’s cruel smile flashes in my mind’s eye and my anger spikes. But then I remember the way I left him, in a faceoff with two deadly panthers out for blood. It’s that memory that gives me a sense of relief, because I know he can never hurt any of us again.

  A low whimpering sound escapes from Sandy’s throat. “Everything is going to be okay,” I say to soothe her and run my hand up and down her arm to create warmth. Beneath the fear I see in her eyes, I catch a glimpse of an emotion I can’t quite identify, and it has my hackles spiking. A sad look pulls her mouth down, and I get the sense she wants to tell me something. I hug her tighter, and can feel her heart racing against her chest.

  “What is it?” I ask gently, and take another glance around to see what has her so spooked.

  Her eyes go so wide they look like they’re ready to pop from their sockets. “He could be here,” she whispers low, her shoulders slumping as her body closes in on itself, like she’s trying to make herself smaller, invisible, the way we used to do when we were pups and the master was on a rampage.

  “Who could be here, Sandy?”

  “The master,” she says weakly. A cold shiver wracks her body as she leans forward to let a curtain of wheat-colored hair hide her face. My nerves come alive because I get the oddest sense that she can’t bring herself to meet my eyes. What is she ashamed of? That a cruel man managed to break her? Breed her with a powerful wolf so he could harness her offspring?

  Or is it something else?

  Either way, it’s time to think about our future, not dwell on our past.

  “He’s gone,” I assure her, and tuck a long strand of hair behind her ear to expose her face. I look into her worried eyes. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

  “What if—”

  “There are no what ifs,” I say in a bid to calm her. “He died at the hands of his enemies, Sandy. No human, no matter how cruel and powerful he is, can come back from an attack like that.”

  A strangled, gargle sound catches in her throat, and when anxiety bursts from her pores and explodes in the air like a pack of fireworks, it has my wolf howling, feeding off the intensity of her emotions. As I watch Sandy’s peculiar reactions it has me wondering what I said to cause such a powerful response in her.

  Sandy nibbles on her lips, like she wants to say more. But then stops herself and scrapes her front teeth over her mouth until her bottom lip is red and swollen. Practically bleeding.

  Gem, who has taken on the big sister role to Sandy, tips her chin and says, “We should go.”

  When Sandy steps away from me, my stomach tightens with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, and I make a mental note to get to the bottom of matters with her, right after I get us all to safety.

  Modesty aside, Gem begins to unbutton her shirt and that’s when I notice Logan and Nova, both shrouded in darkness beneath a sheltering oak tree. The way Logan is caring for Nova, helping the young wolf from her clothes, doesn’t go unnoticed by me. Nor does the ugly sting of jealousy zinging through my bloodstream.

  A low growl rumbles in the back of my throat, and I can’t deny that the sight of the two standing so close taunts my wolf in primal ways. Blood lust rips through my veins, and my talons lengthen, but I diligently fight off the change, hating myself for allowing my wolf to feel threatened in the first place. Logan is a protector, an alpha, and he’s only doing what comes natural to him.

  I briefly shut my eyes to gain control over my emotions, something I find harder and harder to do as I work to become less animal and more human. Once calm, I take a moment to see the world through Nova’s eyes, to consider her situation.

  Unlike Stone and me, two wolves who’ve grown accustomed to brutality and bloodshed, Nova has never suffered abuse at the hands of a cruel master, has never been forced to witness such shocking violence. None of this can be easy for her.

  I take a moment to play out the carnage she undoubtedly witnessed and I berate myself for my girlish behavior, for allowing my wolf to feel possessive under these horrifying circumstances. But I still can’t seem to shake the uneasy feeling that there is more going on with the young wolf than meets the eye.

  The sound of Stone moving in beside me pulls my focus and helps me to redirect my thoughts.

  I give a hard shake of my head to clear it, and work to focus on the crisis at hand. “Are we travelling in wolf form?” I ask Gem.

  “It’s easier to get up the mountain that way, and we have clothes and food stashed at the den.”

  I nod and stand back while they finish stripping their clothes from their bodies and shift. Once they’re all in their primal form, I gather their abandoned apparel and toss them into the fire for safe measure.

  My mind briefly flashes to the vicious, shape shifting panthers that attacked us at the master’s compound. I have no idea where they bunker down at night, or if the PTF can get them under control, but I’m not taking any chances that they can be harnessed and used to track us. When the clothes ignite, I tear my shirt and pants from my body and add them to the flames.

  Standing naked beneath the near full moon, the blaze backlighting me from behind, I call on m
y wolf. But as my bones shift and slide into place, my young girlish screams turning to dark wolfish howls, I don’t miss the powerful, streamlined wolf standing in the shadows.

  Watching me.

  His big beefy paws rake the ground, tilling the dirt and soil beneath his deadly nails. His nostrils flare, and silver eyes move over my frame as I drop to all fours. I canter toward him and he makes a deep throaty noise.

  When I approach he nudges me with his muzzle, and I don’t misinterpret the intimacy in his actions. He growls low into the fire ravaged night, then rubs up against me, interacting the way fated mates would. I look past his shoulder and swallow uneasily when I catch Logan studying us darkly.

  The orange glow from the fire highlights the pewter in Logan’s eyes. His growl is deep and menacing, his gaze sliding over me darkly. He continues to pace by the tree line, and his movements are purposeful, showcasing his powerful, streamlined body as he waits for me to make the next move.

  I don’t miss the strain in his eyes, a reminder that he’s a pack alpha, a wolf who carries a world’s worth of responsibilities on his shoulders. Even though he’s still a boy, he’s as loyal as a bloodhound to those he cares about. I sense his impatience with this whole mating situation, but I appreciate the fact that he is giving me the distance I need to find my way in this new world.

  My mind briefly flashes back to the compound, to when I took comfort in Stone’s arms during a moment of weakness. Guilt eats at me, my heart aching from my betrayal.

  Driven by a need only my wolf understands, I take a step toward Logan, but when Nova’s distressed howl cuts the silence, his whole body stiffens. A moment of hesitation passes over his eyes, then he gives one last glance my way before he darts up the mountain after the injured wolf. With a swish of my tail I go after them, Stone keeping watch over me from behind.

  Swift on all fours, I advance on them, only to find Nova cantering happily alongside Logan. I cut her a curious glance but she doesn’t return it. Hurrying my strides I move past her and wonder, was her distress howl simply a delayed reaction to the massacre she’d witnessed?