Page 2 of Frank's Felon
“Not enforcer behavior, Mason. Never show ‘em fear. Got it?”
Mason moved closer. “I just don’t feel like getting my nose broken.”
Frank stopped short, that same scent cloying at him. She had come through here. Mason caught the scent too. Frank motioned Mason to wrap around from the north while Frank headed east. Sooner or later, he would catch this female who was playing games with him, and when he did, he wasn’t going to go easy on her.
* * *
DELILAH
Delilah knew she should stop procrastinating and breech the pack’s border by more than a few hundred feet, but she couldn’t afford another encounter today. The blood running down her forearm was reminder enough that she wasn’t invincible. From what she had learned in Devil’s Peak, the alphas in this region were the ‘kill and ask questions later’ type of males when it came to protecting their territory. Before she pushed any further in her hunt, she needed to be fully healed and rested.
Escaping the lecherous white wolves five miles back had been difficult enough. Scratch that. . . she’d barely made it out of there and had the claw marks to prove it. Instead of going toward town, she had unintentionally headed deeper into the forest. It was as if her wolf were drawn in that direction, the direction of that delicious scent that had caught her notice only once. Hell, only once and she found herself wondering about a male she had no time for and likely no stomach for, not given what these males always wanted.
Ignoring that scent, hard as it was, had become a necessity over the last few days as she tested the patrols of the other pack in the area, the one led by a silver wolf, Damien Black. Getting lax would land her in deep water, as it already had.
At least she was close enough to one of her clothing stashes. She could get dressed before returning to Devil’s Peak. Walking into town naked was not something she cared to do ever again, especially during daylight hours.
Ignoring the white wolves’ scent markings—for the third day in a row—hadn’t been the smartest decision of her life, but some risks were necessary. Okay, many risks were necessary if she was going to stay alive and accomplish her goals.
Her mother had always accused her of being too daring for her own good. How many times had she warned her to think before acting? Too many, and yet playing by the rules hadn’t saved her mother. Those anti-shifter protesters had targeted her, just like the Wolf Shifter Suppressor Organization had targeted her family.
Maybe if the government put some rules in place to protect shifters, gave them rights, Delilah would start playing by the rules. Until then, it was open season on the WSSO and anyone who helped them, including shifters. One by one, she would track down the humans at the WSSO, and their allies, and make them regret what they did to her family.
Still in wolf form, Delilah limped along the cold ground, favoring her left foreleg. She’d never let herself be trapped again, denied the ability to run free in the fresh air, among the trees, like she was doing now. She loved this area. Colorado was so different from the southeastern U.S. This region was gorgeous and expansive, practically untouched by humans. A shifter could lose herself up here and never have to encounter another person, shifter or human.
This wasn’t a time to get lost in dreams, about her newfound freedom or the intriguing scent of a male that she couldn’t push out of her mind. She needed to be more cautious about her every move. This morning had shown her that much, not to mention the past eighteen months. Being attacked by five wolves had left her shaken and in no condition to press forward, at least not until she healed. She certainly shouldn’t be wasting time with an unknown male.
As she distributed most of her weight to three legs, favoring her left front leg, she tried to figure out what she could have done differently. While Delilah had speed on her side, the white wolves had known the terrain. Unfortunately, that would be a given anywhere she went. That was the problem with being a lone wolf. No home-field advantage. Ever.
The white wolves had corralled her and then boxed her in a canyon. The bastards had thought she’d submit to them just because there were five of them. Baxter and Riley had thought the same back home before this whole mess had begun, but that had been her fault in part. She had let her guard down that night, trusting that her pack always had her back. Pack was the source of the problem more often than not. Pack couldn’t be trusted. Only family could be.
At least she had clawed the hell out of the one white wolf before the other two had subdued her. The white wolves would have forced her to shift to human form, eventually. Clawing and biting her shoulder and arms had only been the start. The moment she shifted, it would have been over. They would have raped and then killed her, she was sure of it. There was a certain look in a male’s eye, a group mentality when two or more gathered. Fortunately, the black wolf had intervened. Yellow eyes had blazed, and he had torn into the leader of the group of the white wolves.
The wolves pinning her down had released her immediately. The black wolf had shifted, and the dark-skinned man had ordered her to leave the territory, without asking who she was or why she was there. That was a good thing. He wouldn’t have let her go had he known the truth about her.
Now that she was far away from the white wolves, Delilah shifted to human form to take a better look at her wounds. The claw marks traveled the length of her left arm, curving inward at her palm, which made bending her arm and hand painful. The damn shifter had sliced deep, going for maximum damage. The bastard hadenjoyedinflicting pain.
Delilah reached into the hollowed-out tree stump where she had stashed her clothes. After she pulled on her jeans, boots, and bra, she carefully threaded her wounded arm into the baggy, light grey sweatshirt. Her wolf would heal her in a day or two. She’d bench herself until then, or at least restrict her activities to town.
She followed the border east, and then dipped south, back into white wolf territory. Her skin crawled simply being there, but it was the only way she had found that led to the state road that bisected the white wolves’ territory. She could hitchhike to Devil’s Peak from there.
As Delilah entered the covered foot-bridge that spanned a narrow but deep gulch with a fast-moving river, that same enticing scent—the one she’d picked up several times along the border of the two packs—wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Strong and earthy, like cedar, yet fresh and clean like the raging rapids below the bridge, the strong dichotomy of the scent intrigued her when it should have put her on guard.
The scent was too strong, too concentrated. She wasn’t alone.
Delilah whirled about and kicked outward, catching the shifter in his middle. The kick had thrown him off balance long enough for her to sweep his legs. With a heavy thud, the shifter crashed to the wooden deck of the bridge.
Delilah ignored the pain shooting down her arm. To baby her arm right now would put her life at risk. The shifter was enormous, broad and solidly built with hard, bulging muscles lining his arms and chest. She was surprised she’d managed to take him down. One things was certain, she wouldn’t get a second chance to escape if she didn’t follow through. Before the enormous shifter could rise, Delilah kicked again, hitting him squarely in the chest.
The beast had anticipated her move and braced himself. Instead of going down, he caught her foot as he sprang to his feet, simultaneously pulling up and slamming her flat on her back.
Her head hit the deck, hard, dazing her. He was dragging her now, into the shadows of the bridge, out of the sun, out of view, not that there was anyone around to help her.
Hands of steel lifted her as if she weighed nothing and shoved her up against the inside of the bridge. With a single hand, he pinned her by her throat.
“Who are you?” he asked, amber eyes drilling into her. His narrowed lips and clenched jaw told her she had royally pissed him off.
“None of your business,” Delilah said, knowing the bite of her words would only make the situation worse, but she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t respond well to males who tried to control her. “Let me go!”
