Page 20 of Tracking the Alpha
“I was told you took out the hunters.” A flat statement.
“Some of them, yes. I had no choice. It was me or them.” Barrett wouldn’t apologize, but he did clarify. “I only incapacitated the first guy they sent after me. The general was the one who ordered his death so he couldn’t talk. Once I realized that, I prioritized my safety over them.”
The revelation led to the woman sighing. “In other words, I was never leaving this place alive.”
“No.” He didn’t lie.
“Well, that’s annoying.” She glanced away from him, and silence fell for a moment before she said, “Guess I’m screwed no matter what I do.”
“You could run,” he suggested.
“Why bother? From what you’ve said, the general would come after me.”
“Doesn’t mean he’d succeed. You still have a chance to flee this place.”
“Why didn’t you?” she countered, meeting his gaze.
“Because I couldn’t leave the others behind.”
The woman stared at him before slowly saying, “They have your friends captive in that place.”
He didn’t correct her because the bond he had with those in his section transcended that of friendship. “Yes, and I won’t run off and abandon them.”
“I don’t see how you can free them. Wolf or man, you’re talking about infiltrating a guarded military installation, and no offense, but this isn’t a Rambo movie. You’ll be dead or caught the moment you try to go through that gate.”
“I’m aware,” was his dry reply. “But that doesn’t absolve my responsibility. Not to mention, how could I live with myself if I selfishly chose my own freedom over theirs?”
She stared at Barrett before offering a tight smile. “How rare. A man with true honor.”
Would an honorable man have chewed through someone’s neck? Then again, at the time he wasn’t exactly a man.
Rather than denigrate himself because her compliment discomfited, he changed the subject. “I’m Barrett, by the way, formerly a captain in the Canadian Military.” The incongruity of introducing himself had him smirking. “I’d say nice to meet you, but given my life at the moment, I feel more like I should apologize.”
Her lips quirked. “Understandable. I’m Tanis, farmer and hunter, the latter being why Major Stevens kidnapped me from a reserve in Alberta. And before you ask, yes, I’m part native. My mom was full-blooded Cree, while my father was an eco-warrior trying to save the forest.”
“Did he succeed?”
“Nope. He ran away once he found out he knocked up my mother.”
“Fuck. That’s a bullshit thing to do.”
“Agreed, but not something I worry about. His loss.”
For a second, Barrett forgot his nakedness and raked fingers through his hair, froze halfway through the comb, and then quickly dropped his hands back down to cover his junk.
She snorted. “Kind of pointless don’t you think? I’ve seen it all by now.”
“I don’t suppose you have anything that would fit me?” Asked on a doubtful note seeing as how he outweighed her by at least eighty or more pounds.
“Nope, but I do have a blanket you can at least wrap around you like a sarong. Give me a second to grab it from my pack.”
She turned from him, presenting her back and displaying a lack of fear that either showed courage or foolishness. He could have easily taken her out, but she apparently trusted him not to be an animal despite what he’d done to the dead woman on the ground. Obviously one of the failures the general mentioned. The treatment didn’t kill her but infused her with madness. Or was that a side effect because she’d been stuck in the coyote shape for too long? Would that have been Barrett eventually? Probably, given day by day he felt his grip on humanity slipping.
Tanis knelt to dig around in the leaves, which had masked the scent of her gear. A wasted effort since he’d been tracking her from the moment they met. He’d not spent long in his cave before seeking her out. He’d been unable to get her out of his mind. For days now, he’d been silently shadowing. Watching. Smelling. Craving something he couldn’t define. And, no, it wasn’t sex he wanted from her, not exactly. That would have been gross, seeing as how he was basically a dog at the time. But something about Tanis drew him, like metal to a magnet. No matter how quietly she moved, he could always find her, and when the coyote attacked, despite the fact he’d been a few hundred yards away, on his way to seek out the reason for gunshots, he’d sensed the danger. Found himself racing unerringly for Tanis and arriving just in time. He’d never felt such rage as when he’d seen that coyote atop her.
Tanis pivoted from her sack and held out a roll of fabric. “Here’s the blanket.”
Grabbing it from her required taking a few steps. He’d look dumb cupping his junk while shuffling so he let his hands fall to his side and with shoulders back strutted. To her credit, her expression remained neutral and her gaze locked with his.
