Page 41 of Kidnapped By the Wolf

As the cold October breeze picks up, I catch a whiff of incense and fresh rain. Cassie’s familiar smoky fragrance should be a comfort, but her scent is muddled by the acrid stench of terror and blood.

A low growl rumbles through me, and instinct takes over. I glance over at Sebastian, who’s already shifted into a lean black wolf with glowing amber eyes.

That one look is all we need. The bond between an alpha and his pack is almost telepathic, especially when we’re in animal form.

I take off in the direction of Cassie’s scent, but then two male voices catch my attention.

I see them before they notice us — two shifters in human form emerging from the woods.

Slinking behind the nearest trailer, I wait until they’re mere feet away.

Then I pounce.

My fangs sink into the first male’s throat, and whatever humanity is left inside me is overtaken by my wolf’s raw, protective instinct. These males might not be directly responsible for my mate’s suffering, but if there’s even a chance that they allowed one of their own to harm Cassie, they don’t deserve to live.

The second man screams, but Sebastian takes him down in a violent spray of blood. The smell, the taste, the sounds of ripping flesh send me into a frenzy, and it’s only the ghost of my mate’s scent that brings me back to reality.

All the noise will draw more bears, and we still need to find Cassie.

Shaking the blood and gore from my fur, I pick up the trail once more and come to a beat-up camper with a rusty pickup parked out front. The smell of baked beans wafts from a small camp stove propped up on cinderblocks.

Someone is definitely home.

Bounding up into the bed of the truck, I peer in through a grimy window, and a fresh snarl rips from my throat.

Cassie is lying motionless on the floor of the camper.

Maybe if I were in human form, I’d be able to think straight, but the terror and fury that rips through me crowds out all reason.

No oneharms my mate.

Leaping down from the truck, I bound toward the front door of the camper. Then a gunshot cracks through the air.

White-hot agony slices through my flesh, and I let out a high-pitched yip.

A man is standing between me and the door, holding a shotgun. He’s gigantic — well over six feet and well-muscled — with the bloodshot eyes and sickly complexion of a drunk.

Dane.

I bare my teeth, but he drops the gun, shifting as he lunges. The eight-hundred pound bear rams into me with a roar that shakes the clearing.

I don’t feel the pain as I hit the ground, nor do I feel Dane’s sharp claws raking at my fur. My mate is hurt — possibly worse — and I have come unhinged.

I dig my teeth into the bear’s throat, but his fur is so thick my fangs can’t penetrate it. Then a low snarl catches my attention, and I look up in time to see a huge black wolf leap at the bear from behind.

Dane roars and rises up onto his hind legs, knocking Sebastian to the ground. My wolf brother yips but then rolls to his feet, ears back and hackles raised.

Sebastian’s wolf is fucking terrifying.

Dane growls at me and circles out, keeping us both in his line of sight. I go for his throat, but he swats me away with those long, ferocious claws.

Fresh pain lances through my ribs, but it’s nothing compared to the pain I felt at finding Cassie gone.

I lunge again, and this time, Sebastian attacks from behind. We take Dane to the ground in a pile of fur and claws and fangs, rolling and scraping and kicking and biting until I’m not sure where I end and where the others begin.

Something metallic clatters into the dry grass, and another bear’s roar makes me flatten my ears.

I turn just in time to see an equally massive tawny bear running toward us, and my stomach clenches. I’d know that bear anywhere. It’s Cassie’s father, Clint.

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